There has previously been some drilling inside the monument but the last well stopped producing in 1992. Now, there are dozens of old, abandoned oil and gas wells still there. But Ruple is skeptical that drilling could start back up in any serious way.
“That area is just too inaccessible. The oil and gas potential is very low and the cost of getting any product out to a refinery and to market would be very high,” Ruple said.
I worry that too much of the public lands are being locked up as wilderness -- land of no uses. Wilderness area not only restrict mineral use, they also restrict public recreational uses, and often are poorly funded and maintained with no dedicated revenue source. Timber, oil, gas, coal and cattle pay for roads, trails, campsites and recreational uses of land. Trees that are harvested are replanted, coal fields are filled by in and re-planted, oil and gas wells are capped and returned to public use. Cows properly fenced in and herd numbers controlled can maintain proper grass lands. Heck, in Allegheny National Forest, many of the best free campsites are former oil and gas wells. It's not fair to compare land management of 50, much less 120 years ago to what is done today, with much better science and laws. The science on how to properly control graze a land or harvest timber in 1900 wasn't what it is 2017. To the layman, land management may not be easy to understand, especially right after a timber harvest or mineral extraction activity. You have to come back in a few years once the ecosystem is rehabilitated.
If you want free use of public lands, you have to allow for timber and mineral sales. Otherwise, they are going to have higher and higher admission prices, especially as public subsidies aren't guaranteed.
I don't think there should be any fees for parks. After all, we don't charge fees to use the public libraries. Certainly doubling fees at national parks is the wrong way to go. Why not tap the billions the Department of Interior is bringing in on off-shore leases and Bureau of Land Management Lands from fossil fuels and timber to pay for the needed upgrades of parks? The reason we allow logging, coal mining, oil and gas extraction on public lands after all is to provide a public benefit, namely revenue for the lands upkeep.
"CHARLESTON — Less than two days after the Division of Natural Resources announced a pilot program that would introduce a fee to seven state parks in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice stepped in to cancel the program."
“The move was announced without my approval. It’s a bad idea and I’m going to fix it,” Justice said in a news release issued today.
Justice announced that he is putting the brakes on the recent decision by the Division of Natural Resources to charge park visitors a $2 fee. Justice referred to the DNR’s announcement of the program as an “error” and canceled it."
“West Virginians are struggling and at this time there is no way I can go along with charging a fee to enjoy our state parks,” he said. “West Virginia’s state parks will remain free and open to the public. When I see a mistake, I make it right.”
"CHARLESTON — Less than two days after the Division of Natural Resources announced a pilot program that would introduce a fee to seven state parks in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice stepped in to cancel the program."
“The move was announced without my approval. It’s a bad idea and I’m going to fix it,” Justice said in a news release issued today.
Justice announced that he is putting the brakes on the recent decision by the Division of Natural Resources to charge park visitors a $2 fee. Justice referred to the DNR’s announcement of the program as an “error” and canceled it."
“West Virginians are struggling and at this time there is no way I can go along with charging a fee to enjoy our state parks,” he said. “West Virginia’s state parks will remain free and open to the public. When I see a mistake, I make it right.”
With Election Day only four weeks away, it's important to be aware of what choices voters will have, especially on the back of ballot with the propositions. The NYS Board of Elections has detailed analysis of the proposals.
"Prestigiacomo said the hub is looking at temperature, light availability, nutrients, salinity, pH and other kinds of data to try and determine what might be triggering the blooms. He referred to storms in July, which created "episodic pulses of nutrients followed by long, warm, kind of stagnant conditions like we're seeing now," a good formula for creating blooms. The forecast for at least the next week looks much the same."