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Friday, April 24, 2009

University of Tennessee drops plan to lease Cumberland Plateau forest land for gas drilling

Faced with citizen opposition and apparent worries from state officials, the University of Tennessee has dropped plans to lease 8,600 acres of its Forest Resources Research and Education Center on the Cumberland Plateau in Scott and Morgan counties for natural-gas drilling.

"Gov. Phil Bredesen said UT and state officials have recently had several discussions about the use of state-owned lands, including mineral rights and oil and gas leases," reports Anne Paine of The Tennessean, which broke the story about the leasing plan. Bredesen said, "As a result of these discussions the University decided that the best path forward is to step back from this proposal for now, and to have a broader discussion on developing the best approach to the use of public lands."

The Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, which has a conservation easement on a creek downstream from the area, had voiced concern about the chemical fracturing process used to release gas from deep shale formations. (Read more)

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