The DCNR considers the area which would be opened for drilling as multi-use land. That means it can be used for nature preservation, recreation, timber, or drilling. Some of the money gained by selling drilling rights to private companies is then used to purchase other land for protection as state forests and parks.

But at one-fourth of Pennsylvania's state forest acreage, the current plan would call for the single largest sale of drilling rights in the state's history - something not open for public discussion until a few weeks ago.

Jim Kleissler is coordinator for the conservation group, Allegheny Defense Project. He says adding to the over 400 wells already on public land should be a public decision. "We're not talking about taking those out and putting new wells in," says Kleissler. "We're talking about putting these new deep oil and gas wells in which are much larger. There could potentially be hundreds, we could potentially more than double the amount of wells in our state forests."

Kleissler says the DCNR needs to draft more environmentally sound lease agreements before moving forward. The DCNR has rules in place to prevent drilling in designated wild and natural areas, but Kleissler says those rules aren't strict enough. "Actually, the lease allows that to happen," he says. "And they just need a written waiver from the district forester."

Kleissler says the effects of roads and pipeline development could be more wide-reaching than the addition of wells in the forest.

DCNR spokesperson Gretchen Leslie agrees the matter could have been better handled from the start. "We failed to recognize that the public would have many more concerns about this lease because of its size, and because it involves deep drilling," she says. "Even though we followed our standard procedure with this lease, we should have made our plans known well in advance. It was clear that the public did not view this as a standard lease, and we wanted to step back and share our process with the public, and allow those interested a chance to further review these plans."

The auction, which was originally scheduled for May 8th and 9th, has been postponed until at least July. In the meantime, the DCNR will hold a series of public meetings to discuss the plan. Leslie says during these meetings, the agency will take comments and concerns, while trying to inform the public on the specifics of the leases being considered.