Corbett's order an unwelcome surprise

Dear Editor,

Gov. Tom Corbett's May 23 executive order lifting the four-year moratorium on new oil and gas leases in Pennsylvania state parks and forests comes as an unwelcome surprise to the many families who cannot afford to vacation in exotic places this summer.

Corbett's argument that allowing drillers to access mineral rights beneath state land from adjacent properties will cause no additional surface disturbances reveals a profound disregard for the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, including deforestation, loss of wildlife habitat, contamination of water supplies, noise, air and light pollution.

At the very least, park visitors will begin to see an increase in heavy truck traffic in and around state parks and forests once these operations are underway.

While there is no word yet as to which parks and forests will be opened to horizontal drilling in the near future, one can only hope local favorites such as Beltzville, Lehigh Gorge and Hickory Run state parks will not be among those affected by this gift of our public lands to the natural gas industry.

Juliet Perrin

Albrightsville