Wayne leasing grows

Only one lease recorded in Pike

By TOM KANE

PIKE AND WAYNE COUNTIES, PA - In Pike County, only one gas drilling lease has been signed and registered. The lessee, the owners who hold the property on which the lease is signed, is Mushpaugh Sportsman’s Association in Palmyra Township for 2,452 acres.

In Wayne County, as reported previously, 1,400 leases have been signed and registered since January 2007. Among the lessees with the highest amounts of acreage are Delaware Hills Hunting and Fishing Club of Honesdale for 505 acres, Upper Hills Hunting Club of Honesdale for 1,218 acres, Panther Mountain Lodge of Union Dale for 650 acres, John and Marjorie Marshall of Honesdale for 908 acres, Starlight Forest of Starlight for 786 acres, Leslie and Sally Mang of Honesdale for 517 acres, Charles Curtis of Pleasant Mount for 355 acres and Patricia

Flynn of Lakewood for 358 acres.

Because the leases are not searchable by size, there may be other large property holders that have leases that were overlooked when the lease records were checked.

The 1,400 leases do not include those that are expected to be signed by members of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Association (NWPOA). This group, which has a large number of potential lessees, is still negotiating contracts with one of the gas drilling companies in the area.

The staff at the Wayne County Department of Registry and Records, located at the Wayne County Courthouse, said that many residents have come into the department asking to see if their neighbors have signed leases. Some people who don’t want to sign leases have been put under pressure by drilling landsmen who say they will lose out if gas is discovered under their property and they do not have a lease, which is untrue.

“We were surprised by all the work that has come to this department because of gas leases,” one staff member said.

In other gas drilling news, Apex Land Corporation, which has signed contracts with many in Wayne County, is transferring its leases to Stone Energy Company. It was not clear at the time of this printing why the action was taken, whether the leases were sold to Stone Energy or whether the lessees were informed of the transaction.