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Allegany State Park Mineral Rights
Allegany State Park is New York's largest State Park. It is located approximately
60 miles south of Buffalo on the border of New York and Pennsylvania.
It contains the largest contiguous stand of mature forest, the largest
wild area and the largest ancient forest area (old growth) in New York
west of the Adirondacks. More than 1 million people visit the park annually.
Allegany's expansive stands of mature forest and unique geological characteristics
have, historically, made it a target of commercial interests seeking to
exploit its natural resources. In 1996, CCE successfully defeated a plan
that would have permitted commercial logging on more than 25% of the forested
parkland. If approved, the logging proposal would have set a terrible
precedent by allowing commercial interests to influence how Allegany and
other state parks are utilized.
Copyright of the NYS Department of Economic Development
Red House Lake at Allegany State Park
During the logging battle, it became clear that timber wasn't the only natural resource
of commercial value within the park. Prior to its designation as a state
park in 1921, the area was developed for oil production. Over 200 oil
wells were drilled to tap into the petroleum reserves, including the first
oil well completed in New York State in 1864. The park was assembled with
the state purchasing the surface rights from interests who were unwilling
to relinquish their ownership of the potential petroleum reserves beneath
the surface. Because mineral rights remained in private ownership, well
drilling continued within the park boundaries until the oil companies
moved on to more lucrative sites. Although oil production activities have
ceased, private mineral interests maintain the ability to resume exploration
and production at any time through ownership of subsurface rights.
The impacts
of petroleum exploitation in the park could include cutting of mature
forest for access roads and well pads, drilling equipment, well pumps,
storage tanks, pipelines and transport vehicles. This activity would permanently
damage the magnificent character of New York's largest state park.
The Office
of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) estimates that
in total, private interests control over 40% of the mineral rights beneath
public lands within Allegany State Park. The privately held mineral rights
are scattered throughout the park in a patchwork system, thus intensifying
the potential for damage to park natural resources such as forests, streams,
lakes, wetlands and hillsides if the oil and gas is exploited. In the
past, OPRHP has publicly stated its support for the public acquisition
of privately held mineral rights from willing sellers at fair market value
in order to ensure protection of the park's environment and natural character.
In 1990,
CCE and other open space protection advocates convinced the State Legislature
to create a plan to guide decision-making by identifying priority open
space protection needs across the state. The New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), with the advice of nine regional advisory
committees, prepared the plan, Conserving Open Space in New York State.
The State
Open Space Plan has identified critical natural resource areas across
the state which are most threatened by development and recommends protection
strategies for these resources including public acquisition. The privately
controlled Allegany State Park mineral rights are listed as a priority
project for acquisition in the 2001 Open Space Plan.
New York
State has two funding sources to protect threatened natural resources.
The Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) is a dedicated, long-term source
of state funds for various environmental protection projects including
the protection of priority environmentally sensitive lands. In 1996, voters
approved the Clean Water/ Clean Air Bond Act, which provides an additional
source of funding to protect natural resources. No new funding category
will be needed to publicly acquire the privately controlled Allegany State
Park mineral rights.
CCE continues
its public education and outreach programs and advocates for the public
acquisition of the privately controlled sub-surface mineral rights within
the boundaries of Allegany State Park.
For more
information about Allegany State Park, link to:
Parks and
Recreation in Western New York:
http://rin.buffalo.edu/c_catt/comm/park-rec/park/redhT_alle.html
Map of Allegany
State Park:
www.netacc.net/~managan/fart/parkmap.html
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