OSU Extension offers a series of educational meetings on natural gas issues
Educators from Ohio State University Extension will address numerous issues related to leasing land for oil and gas production through a series of meetings across Ohio in early 2012.
“Our educational effort started in eastern Ohio with some meetings in 2010, and interest in the issue really expanded in 2011,” said Steve Schumacher, one of the Extension educators leading OSU efforts to provide information to interested Ohioans. “Up to this point there have been over 50 educational meetings involving over 5,700 attendees.”
Schumacher said a series of public meetings scheduled for the first three months of 2012 will offer information on leasing land, the legalities involved, and financial management programs for those who have, or will have lease income from oil and gas production.
Currently, more than 10 dates are scheduled across the state, featuring Extension experts connected with the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (online at http://aede.osu.edu/), the Agriculture and Resource Law Program (online at http://aede.osu.edu/programs/aglaw), and the Extension Shale Energy Education Work Group.
“People are being hit with a lot of different opportunities and people approaching them wanting to sign a lease,” Schumacher explained. “What people have appreciated about OSU Extension is the opportunity to talk with someone who has a non-biased approach to this discussion. We’re just trying to provide non-biased educational information, and I’ve heard time after time that people appreciate having an entity to talk to that has no financial stake in the issue.”
He said the educational efforts have thus far focused mainly on landowner issues, but that Extension experts are studying the larger impact of shale gas production on local communities.
“There are a number of issues other than just leasing, so we’re trying to answer broader questions of the public and local officials,” Schumacher said. “This affects local communities, so we’re providing lots of stakeholders with information.”
Sessions are currently scheduled in Franklin, Jefferson, Noble and Perry counties, as well as during Power Show Ohio and the Northeast Ohio Small Farm Conference. Details on dates, times and locations of meetings can be found online via OSU Extension at http://extension.osu.edu/ and the OSU Subsurface Energy Resource Center at http://serc.osu.edu/events, or from local county Extension offices across Ohio.
“Our educational effort started in eastern Ohio with some meetings in 2010, and interest in the issue really expanded in 2011,” said Steve Schumacher, one of the Extension educators leading OSU efforts to provide information to interested Ohioans. “Up to this point there have been over 50 educational meetings involving over 5,700 attendees.”
Schumacher said a series of public meetings scheduled for the first three months of 2012 will offer information on leasing land, the legalities involved, and financial management programs for those who have, or will have lease income from oil and gas production.
Currently, more than 10 dates are scheduled across the state, featuring Extension experts connected with the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (online at http://aede.osu.edu/), the Agriculture and Resource Law Program (online at http://aede.osu.edu/programs/aglaw), and the Extension Shale Energy Education Work Group.
“People are being hit with a lot of different opportunities and people approaching them wanting to sign a lease,” Schumacher explained. “What people have appreciated about OSU Extension is the opportunity to talk with someone who has a non-biased approach to this discussion. We’re just trying to provide non-biased educational information, and I’ve heard time after time that people appreciate having an entity to talk to that has no financial stake in the issue.”
He said the educational efforts have thus far focused mainly on landowner issues, but that Extension experts are studying the larger impact of shale gas production on local communities.
“There are a number of issues other than just leasing, so we’re trying to answer broader questions of the public and local officials,” Schumacher said. “This affects local communities, so we’re providing lots of stakeholders with information.”
Sessions are currently scheduled in Franklin, Jefferson, Noble and Perry counties, as well as during Power Show Ohio and the Northeast Ohio Small Farm Conference. Details on dates, times and locations of meetings can be found online via OSU Extension at http://extension.osu.edu/ and the OSU Subsurface Energy Resource Center at http://serc.osu.edu/events, or from local county Extension offices across Ohio.
Published: January 11, 2012
