House Bill 2235 Letter

Here’s is a sample letter to my local representative. Please feel free to copy and paste it if you are not sure how to write your own. Make sure you send it to your correct representative.

Representative Matthew Baker
Ryan Office Building, Room 115
451 North Third Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2068

Dear Representative Baker,

I urge you to vote for the Save Our Forests legislation (HB 2235). We
need this legislation to put a freeze on new leases for natural gas
drilling on our precious state parks and forests, and to ensure that
the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources can sustainability
manage these lands.

–  Already one-third, or 700,000 acres, of state forest lands are open
for natural gas drilling. We should not be forcing open any more lands
just to balance the state budget. A severance tax on gas drilling
should be pursued instead.

–  Our local industries like outdoor tourism, recreation and
sustainable timbering rely on well-managed, protected lands in order to
thrive. Gas drilling operations would threaten these industries that
have been thriving here for generations.

–  Drilling for gas involves clear cutting fields and trees to install
enormous well pads, as well as building access roads and pipelines. In
many cases, this infrastructure has yet to be constructed and will mean
significant disruption to our otherwise well managed forests.

Pennsylvania is to no stranger to environmental destruction at the
hands of a booming industry. Our landscapes are still scarred from our
coal and steel legacies. We cannot again sacrifice the long term health
and well being of our Commonwealth for short-term gain.

Please be a hero for our state forests and vote for HB 2235.

Sincerely,

(Your name and address)

Delay Equals Opportunity…make your voice heard!

Last week’s expected House floor action on the Save the Forests bill (HB 2235) – to protect the best parts of our state forest land from gas drilling – was pushed back to next week. HB 2235 would impose a five-year freeze on new leasing of state land for gas drilling until the state can study the impacts of drilling on natural resources and hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and other uses of the forest. The bill’s proponents are working to gain strong bipartisan support for the bill.

If you haven’t already done so, contact your representative in the State House and asking her/him to vote for the bill. Don’t let this opportunity to help save the forest pass by.