http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/08/17/state_parks_targeted_for_oil_gas_drilling/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z
Oh look new opportunities, but at what expense?
State parks aren’t just for hiking, camping, and other recreation anymore. Increasingly, these lands are being used for oil and gas drilling as budget-strapped states seek new sources of revenue.
As they allow more energy exploration in state parks - in some cases by reversing previous bans - lawmakers are being met with resistance from environmentalists and park officials.
Opponents of the drilling say it raises troubling questions about acceptable uses of publicly shared land - even when new technology allows rigs positioned outside park boundaries to reach petroleum pockets deep beneath the parks by drilling horizontally.
Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said parks get 40 percent of their money from fees related to camping, boating, beach access, and other recreational activities. If drilling affects the panoramas or the noise level, these other revenue sources could start suffering, he said.
Drilling is still barred in national parks. But the reversal of some state bans coincides with efforts to expand exploration in other previously off-limits locations: offshore in coastal states, near Aztec ruins in New Mexico, and in some urban parks.
