HARRISBURG - The abrupt resignation of a state parks director who brought national recognition to the 117-unit system is fueling debate over potential natural gas drilling on state park lands in Pennsylvania.
John Norbeck, a Rendell administration appointee who previously worked in the Maryland parks system, said in an interview that philosophical differences with the Corbett administration on drilling, timbering and mining in the state parks led to his forced resignation effective Oct. 19, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources which oversees the state parks denies any link between Norbeck's resignation and development of state parks resources.
"The speculation that his departure had anything to do with philosophical differences within DCNR regarding resource development on state park lands is puzzling and inaccurate, especially considering the fact that there have been no plans to lift the moratorium on leasing for drilling on state park lands since Governor Corbett took office," said spokeswoman Christina Novak on Wednesday.
Rep. Camille George, D-74, Houtzdale, has called for a legislative hearing over Norbeck's departure as director of the Bureau of State Parks.
George, ranking Democrat on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said that Norbeck's published remarks raise concerns about protection of public lands.
Norbeck's resignation raises the larger issue about allowing widespread drilling in state parks, said Sen. John Yudichak, D-14, Nanticoke, ranking Democrat on the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Wednesday.
"This (drilling issue) needs to be fully vetted by the General Assembly," said Yudichak. "I would hope it not be a unilateral decision by the governor."
The senator said the state shouldn't let a boom mentality undo a century of preservation work at the state parks.
Yudichak declined to comment on Norbeck's resignation except to say the governor has the right to select members of his administration.
PennFuture, an environmental group, said Norbeck's departure adds urgency to its campaign to stop drilling in the state parks.
"It heightens our concerns about where the administration is headed," said PennFuture CEO George Jugovic. PennFuture's campaign calls for new laws to protect the parks from drilling and encouraging drillers to voluntarily sign a pledge not to develop the parks.
The drilling issue is sensitive because the state doesn't own the subsurface mineral rights beneath an estimated 80 percent of state park land. Sixty-one of the 117 state parks are in the Marcellus Shale formation and seismic testing for gas deposits has taken place in several parks. State law gives owners of mineral rights in state parks the right to develop their property and sign leases with gas companies.
DCNR Secretary Richard Allan has said the agency monitors gas companies that conduct tests on privately owned mineral deposits in state parks and makes sure they follow rules governing disturbance of surface land.