Spokesperson Says Gas Pipeline Actually Enhances Area Habitat

The director of conservation for the National Audubon Society of Pennsylvania was the guest speaker at a Citizen Voices meeting on Wednesday morning held at the Carriage House in Oneonta.

Paul Zeff talked about the positive effects gas pipelines can provide to wildlife habitat.

“The pipeline can provide all kinds of habitat benefits,” he said. “It opens up areas for sunshine, which grows the small plants and shrubs that the birds and other wild life need for food.”

The effort is championed by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society environmental group, the Ruffed Grouse Society hunting organization and the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which represents the gas-drilling industry.

They all agree that open space would be a terrible thing to waste.