Allegany State Park recognized in 10 special places report

Trout Unlimited ‘Special Places’ report features Allegany State Park

Dec. 17, 2014

Contact:

Katy Dunlap, Eastern Water Project Director, 607-742-3331, kdunlap@tu.org
Mark Taylor, Eastern Communications Director, 540-353-3556, mtaylor@tu.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Allegany State Park recognized in 10 special places report

Vast New York park offers extensive fishing and hunting possibilities

WASHINGTON, D.C.Trout Unlimited is featuring Allegany State Park in a new report highlighting outstanding public fishing and hunting areas in the Central Appalachian region that are at risk from shale gas drilling-related activities.

The organizations 10 Special Places report focuses on areas that are rich in fish, game and natural beauty, and that have for generations provided abundant opportunities for hunters and anglers. It covers threats to the specific regions and offers recommendations for the best approaches sportsmen and women can use to protect these areas from potential risks.

Allegany State Park is the final of the 10 Special Places to be announced. Trout Unlimited announced a new place weekly this fall, and releases the full report this week.

I spent many days of my youth fishing here and my caught my first trout here when I was 8 years old, said Stan Bishop of the Red Brook chapter of Trout Unlimited. Its extremely important that environmental procedures be very stringent on any type of natural gas extraction from the Marcellus shale seams in this area.

We need to make sure that if natural gas is being produced, that the environment is being protected to the highest level.

The Allegany Park is New Yorks largest state park, covering more than 65,000 acres. More than 80 percent of the park is designated as a Park Preservation Area, which limits intense development and allows only passive public recreation such as fishing, hunting and hiking. The park has the largest concentration of wild brook trout streams in western New York. The park features robust wild game populations, and most of the park is open to regulated hunting.

This is one of the largest state parks in the nation, and it offers something for everyone, said Mark Taylor, TUs eastern communications director. Even the most ambitious trout angler or deer hunter could spend a lifetime exploring the parks woods and waters without seeing the same place twice. There is no doubt that if industrial-scale shale gas development came to the park it would diminish the areas natural appeal.

Trout Unlimited promotes responsible energy development and, in collaboration with others, seeks to ensure that all reasonable efforts are made to avoid or mitigate the impacts such development may have on important coldwater resources, such as those in the Allegany State Park.

While a 2009 law prohibits the development, extraction or leasing of any state-owned oil and gas resources within Allegany State Park, a percentage of parks mineral rights are privately held. Trout Unlimited calls on New York officials to ensure that any drilling-related activities, if allowed on park lands with privately held mineral rights, occur in manner that safeguard the parks valuable natural resources.

The report and related content are available online at tu.org/special-places.