Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has authority under the Conservation and Natural Resources Act to lease state forestland for natural gas exploration. The Act also gives the department the ability to lease state forestlands for underground storage of natural gas, a practice currently less common in Pennsylvania than other areas of the country. The Oil and Gas Lease Fund stipulates that all rents and royalties from these leases are to be placed in a fund used exclusively for conservation, recreation, dams or flood control or used to match any federal grants for those purposes.
For more information, see: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Natural Gas Exploration on State Forest Lands website.
