Seneca Getting Ready to Drill Again in Tioga County

A wealth of public lands & recreational opportunities

The Lycoming Creek watershed provides aplenty opportunities for nature-based recreation. While there are no state parks in the watershed, a 507-acre (0.8 foursquare miles) portion of the Tioga State Wood occupies the northern boundary of the watershed in Tioga County. Further southward lies 45,022 acres (71.1 square miles) of the Loyalsock Land Forest. This includes 332 acres (0.52 square miles) of the Devil's Elbow Natural Area, a site known for its many wetlands—home to cannibal sundew and pitcher plants—waters that feed the stunning Rock Run.

The McIntyre Wild Expanse covers a 7,226 acre (11.3 square mile) expanse of the Loyalsock State Woods, situated entirely in the Lycoming Creek watershed. It includes spectacular waterfalls on streams that feed the aforementioned Rock Run, a tributary known for its vibrant trout population.

Recreational Opportunities in the Lycoming Creek Watershed

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To the west of Lycoming Creek and State Route xiv is Bodine Mountain, another sweeping characteristic of the Loyalsock Land Forest. Bodine Mountain is a north-to-south ridge rising over one,300 feet to a higher place the Lycoming Creek valley.

In addition to state forests, the watershed contains 238 acres of Land Game Land 335 at the northern purlieus, and 2,430 acres (3.8 square miles) of Country Game Country 133, situated southeast of Bodine Mountain. These conserved lands are designated to protect wildlife—a goal that seems at odds with current oil and gas leasing practices.

Fishing and enjoying mount streams

Pennsylvania has two separate designations for streams with first-class water quality : exceptional value (EV) and high quality (HQ). The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) explains that the quality of HQ streams can be lowered, "if a discharge is the result of necessary social or economical development, the water quality criteria are met, and all existing uses of the stream are protected." The water quality of EV streams cannot exist lowered.

Sadly, at that place are no streams in the beautiful Lycoming Creek watershed with an EV designation, however deserving. On the other mitt, 412 miles of streams in its drainage are designated as HQ, representing 76% of the watershed'due south 542 full stream miles, according to the state's official designated use inventory . Statewide, 3,838 out of 86,473 miles (4.four%) of inventoried streams are categorized as EV, while 58,748 miles (67.9%) are HQ, making the Lycoming Creek watershed below average for the erstwhile, and in a higher place average for the latter.

Prior to industrialization, native brook trout populations were widespread in minor, forested streams across Pennsylvania. While many streams are now stocked with several species of trout, the combination of pollution and deforestation has decimated the areas where trout—especially native brook trout—thrive in sustainable wild populations. Suitable streams are designated equally Class A trout streams , and they are rare, accounting for just three,037 miles, or iii.5% of streams across the Commonwealth. The Lycoming Creek watershed contains slightly fewer Grade A streams than is typical, with 17.5 miles, representing just iii.2% of all streams in the drainage. Nevertheless, it remains an important respite for trout species and the anglers who seek them.

Separate estates and the Clarence Moore lands

Hundreds of thousands of acres of Pennsylvania state forest are nether charter agreements for fracked gas extraction, diminishing outdoor experiences and posing ongoing environmental threats. In those situations, the land Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) conspicuously controls the surface and the gas that lies beneath. However, in some areas of the state forest, private interests claim mineral buying, even in gaseous class—a situation called "split estate." Loyalsock State Forest contains about 25,000 dissever estate acres, known as the Clarence Moore Lands .

In the Lycoming Creek watershed, most of the Clarence Moore lands lie east of The states Highway xv, occupying areas that drain into Rock Run and Pleasant Stream, including some of the expanse'south few remaining Class A wild trout waters. Another section of the Clarence Moore lands extends west of Highway 15, on Bodine Mountain's eastern flank. In their current state, the lands provide invaluable ecological services and—coupled with the Loyalsock Creek to the east—contain critical source waters for ii major watersheds.

Gas drilling requires a significant amount of infrastructure, including multiacre well pads, miles of gathering pipelines, retentivity ponds, waste processing facilities, and compressor and metering stations. Allowing surface disturbance in the Clarence Moore lands could have lasting, devastating consequences.

Nearly a decade ago, the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation approached DCNR with extensive plans for dozens of fracked gas wells and all the disruptive destruction that accompanies them in a large swatch of the Loyalsock State Forest and the Clarence Moore lands. Over the years, the Clarence Moore players have changed significantly. Southwestern Energy scored a pale, while Anadarko sold their interest to Alta Resource, a privately-held company scheduled for purchase by EQT , the nation's largest fracked gas visitor. While the operators play their game of musical chairs, the state of affairs remains a serious threat to some of the few remaining portions of the region that haven't been spoiled with industrial gas drilling.

Ironically, mod horizontal drilling enables access to Clarence Moore's reserves from miles away—from well pads on private state. There is no need—nor social license—to expunge the forest for future generations for brusque-lived, selfish gain. Organizations near and far, led past the Responsible Drilling Alliance and Save PA Forests Coalition , have rallied tirelessly to save this country from development, a truly special place deserving permanent protection.

Figure 2. The Clarence Moore Lands are a complicated split estate situation in the Loyalsock Land Forest, including parts of the Lycoming, Loyalsock, and Schrader Creek watersheds.

Unique wetland biomes

Endless wetlands feed Lycoming Creek'south headwaters, providing a unique opportunity to observe aquatic flora and fauna beneath the forested awning of Penn'south Woods. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) explains their importance, besides every bit their precarious state:

"Wetlands provide a multitude of ecological, economical and social benefits. They provide habitat for fish, wild fauna and plants — many of which have a commercial or recreational value — recharge groundwater, reduce flooding, provide make clean drinking h2o, offering food and fiber, and support cultural and recreational activities. Unfortunately, over one-half of America's wetlands have been lost since 1780, and wetland losses continue today. This highlights the urgent need for geospatial information on wetland extent, type, and change."

The geospatial information referred to above is the National Wetland Inventory (NWI), which seeks to document all the wetlands in the United states of america, based primarily in aerial imagery. According to NWI data, in that location are iii,136 acres (4.9 square miles) of wetlands in the Lycoming Creek watershed. All the same, further field enquiry is necessary to properly identify wetland boundaries, specially in the instance of ephemeral wetlands, for example, where the presence of aquatic plants help determine boundaries. All of this suggests that while at that place is every reason to believe the USFWS' claim that over one-half of the nation's wetlands take been lost since around the time of the Revolutionary War, it is believed the NWI discounts the total acreage.

A Academy of Vermont squad developed another model for calculating wetlands, based primarily on, "2006-2008 leaf-off LiDAR data, 2005-2008 foliage-off orthoimagery, 2013 high-resolution country-cover information, and moderate-resolution predictive wetlands maps, incorporating topography, hydrological catamenia potential, and climate information." This model calculates 6,943 wetlands acres (10.8 square miles) in the Lycoming Creek drainage, more than double the NWI's estimated acreage.

Trails

V trails traverse the Lycoming Creek watershed, crossing 152 miles full. This includes nearly 44 miles of the Loyalsock Land Forest Cross-Land Ski Trail system due south and east of the McIntyre Wild Area, suitable for hiking, biking, equestrian pursuits, and of form, cross-country skiing. The watershed also contains 33 miles of Bicycle PA Route J, which runs forth Lycoming Creek from the confluence with the W Branch Susquehanna River on the southern end, all the style to the wetland edge that feeds Lycoming Creek and neighboring Towanda Creek to the northeast. The watershed's most popular trail may be the famous Old Loggers Path , a coveted backpacking route that meanders nearly 23 miles. The Hawkeye Cross-Country Ski Trail—frequented past hikers, bikers, and skiers—loops over seven miles in the northeastern corner of the watershed. Yet another watershed trail is the Lycoming Creek Bikeway, a mostly direct 5-mile stretch from Hepburnville to the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Figure iii. Rock Run in Loyalsock Country Woods'due south McIntyre Wild Expanse. Photograph by Ann Pinca.

Effigy 4. A flyfisher casts in Lycoming Creek right beside Sheshequin Campground in Trout Run. Photograph by Rebecca Johnson.

Figure 5. This wetland lies just beyond the northeastern purlieus of the Lycoming Creek watershed and is similar to those feeding the headwaters of Rock Run near Devil's Elbow Natural Expanse in Loyalsock State Wood. Photograph by Shannon Smith.

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Source: https://www.fractracker.org/lycoming-watershed-digital-atlas/