Common Ground - Western Reserve Land Conservancy

Population 1970: 4,219,345
Source: U.S. Census
has been leased for oil and gas extraction. Many of these
leases date to the 1980s or before.
These older mineral leases were very general and vague.
They did not differentiate between the various geological
formations, did not contemplate changes in technology,
and often did not limit the surface area that could be
disturbed. Historically, the drilling activities associated with
these leases caused small localized impacts, but left the
land around in fairly natural conditions. Park managers and
land stewards have learned to manage around such issues
because much of the conservation land owned or under
conservation easements by park districts and conservation
organizations in northern Ohio is subject to such leases.
Many of these leases on their face have the possibility
of allowing for deep horizontal wells to be placed on the
properties. This is true of currently conserved land as well as
for land that may in the future be conserved.
The development of the Utica Point Pleasant formation will
present our region with many threats of an environmental
nature. Fragmentation of our landscape, water quality
50 CHAPTER 5 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES LOOM
1976 Land Use/Cover
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Population 2010: 3,957,883
Source: U.S. Census
degradation, loss of wildlife habitat, loss of prime farmland
soils, air quality impacts and loss of rural character of
our area all are possible results of this development. As
a conservation community concerned with the vitality of
our natural and human communities, these impacts are of
utmost concern.
The conservation community can serve a vital – and maybe
even a transforming – role in regional shale dynamics.
How might we collectively preserve hundreds of thousands
of acres of wildlife habitat, watershed lands and prime
soils over the next 10 to 20 years at a pace and in places
that protects the best of the best, even in the face of the
wave of drilling and pipelines and peripheral development
that will follow? How might we fund an increased pace
of land protection with this urgency bearing down on us?
How might we guide the industry and regulators away from
potential impacts on our most critical resources? How might
we avoid, minimize or mitigate for the impacts we foresee?
Nature adapts and changes over time. In our collective
answers to these questions and others like them lies our
2006 Land Use/Cover
Source: National Land Cover Database
County Boundaries Developed Water Agricultural Use Natural Areas
County Boundaries
Developed Open Water Agricultural Use Natural Areas
opportunity to adapt and intelligently respond to this new
force in our region.
Because of the cost of Utica Point Pleasant wells -- $6
million to $12 million each – and given the learning that
is taking place in the industry, it will be decades before
wells are planned for many properties that are or will be
conserved. Before fully developing a property, the energy
companies generally drill test wells and analyze the data.
They are most likely to drill one well on a property and
move on to another in order to gather more information
and test new techniques in different areas of the Utica
Point Pleasant formation. Most old leases do not allow
for the landowner or others to dictate well placement.
Therefore, the potential surface impacts cannot be
accurately delineated until the lessee agrees. They are
unlikely to agree to delineate a well site until they are
nearly ready to drill, which may be years in the future.
The newer technology allows the resources to be accessed
from a remote wellhead, where as many as six to 12, or
potentially even more, wells can be drilled directionally