A Nature Center and Natural Gas Drilling

Everyone that isn't half asleep who lives in this area knows what is going on. Trucks, tape, wires, helicopters, guys with Canadian accents- the natural gas companies are here and they are competing for serious amounts of natural gas and serious money. Landowners are being approached for rights to do seismic testing and sometimes to have a drilling rig (or rigs) on their property. Tanglewood is no exception. The Board allowed seismic testing when approached, then shortly after the really hard decision came. A company told us there might be gas here and that they found the "perfect" spot for a drill- on Tanglewood property. That is when everything went South here for awhile. Big dollar signs were tossed around, and maybe Tanglewood's financial struggles were coming to an end? But it wasn't just that easy. There were many factors to consider: our Mission, the environmental implications (known and unknown), the road they'd have to build, the millions of gallons of water that are dirtied in the process, the "odds" of actually striking gas and then the amount extracted, the newness of the drilling (we are talking Marcellus Shale formation here not Trenton Black River like most of the other rigs in our area). So much information to digest and dig up, but not a lot of time to decide.

Without giving all of the ugly details, we went through some real pain. We struggle financially, but we are here for a reason: our Mission and what we teach the children that come here. How do we involve ourselves in something like this without ruining our integrity? The Board, after many weeks of going back and forth and talking to many experts in the field (lawyers, engineers, gas men, land advocates) and after much research and after many, many emails between the Board and the staff, eventually voted to not allow drilling on Tanglewood property.

Money is necessary and the Community's support of what we do and the service we provide is always so appreciated. But money at the expense of our beliefs and what we teach the Community is not good money and I know the Board made the right decision.