Bull's Eye on Cowanesque Lake

Yesterday, on a trip home from New York State, my husband and I drove south on Route 15. Soon after crossing the state line and entering Tioga County, the sign for Cowanesque Lake caught my eye and I made a mental note to remind him that we need to our take our little sailboat there and explore the lake this summer.

Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 1,085-acre Cowanesque Lake offers picnicking, boating, fishing, hiking and hunting. The Corps claims that “Cowanesque Lake is a favored fresh water fishing destination. Every year numerous fishing tournaments take place here. There are a variety of indigenous fish which populate the streams in this area which now also inhabit the lake.” (http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/recreation/cowanesque.htm)

Today, I fear it may be too late. I stumbled onto a real estate ad offering 86 acres of prime Cowanesque Lakefront property on Bliss Road (how ironic) for $4 million. That's more than $47,600 per acre in a county where real estate prices range from $9,000 to $15,000 per acre. What is a person buying when they pay 47,600 per acre?

Really?

Really?

Permission to destroy the environment?
 
The ad’s highlights are as follows:

• Located in the middle of the Marcellus Shale Formation
• Currently Professional Negotiations with Gas Drilling Company
• Offered for far less than royalty value
• This deal is complex, but highly profitable
• This deal is actionable and provable
• Buyers must prove all funds before a contract can be negotiated

The property description follows:

• “Attention Serious Investors Who Have Been Following THE NATURAL GAS Boom&the MARCELLUS SHALE FORMATION in Pennsylvania!
• We are looking for the type of individual who completely understands complex, but HIGHLY PROFITABLE real estate investment deals. An individual who can appreciate the deal we have put together and has the ability to make it work.
• What we are offering is 86 acres of pristine, lake front land, smack dab in the middle of where all the gas companies are sniffing around. It’s in the middle of the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Formation and is quickly accessible to a major highway that connects PA to NY.
• Today’s date is 1/1/2010. Our goal is to sell by the end of 2010. Right now the opportunity exists for you to assist in the lease negotiations we have ongoing.
• Here’s a confidence factor for you:
• Right now there are two (2) natural gas pipelines positioned on both sides of our land visible to the street. If you are new to the Northern Pa Region, you might try to tell me I am crazy because it appears somewhat isolated. Don’t be fooled--- this is not North Dakota or the Swampy Everglades.
• We expect you to do research, we will help you and we are not wasting our time or yours.
• We are professional&ethical Sellers, and are only interested in working with qualified, professional and ethical Buyers.”

Whew, that is reassuring. This broker is ethical and only wants to sell to ethical investors. What I am worried about?
The sad part of the story is that even if no one steps up and buys the property to lease the gas rights, its neighbors already have. What will this mean for Cowanesque Lake? Has the shoreline of this popular lake already been ravaged by gas drilling companies? Is there already contaminants leaking into the water?

How often have we postponed something only to find we've waited too long? Pennsylvania's freshwater lakes, streams and rivers should not be vulnerable to the greed of individuals.

By the way, as a former Floridian, I resent the term "Swampy Everglades." Obviously the writer of the ad above has no concept of the importance of watersheds; Florida's "River of Grass" is one of only three wetlands of global importance. This mentality harkens back to the early 1900s when land in the Everglades sold for $15 per acre and archaic-thinking real estate agents and politicians, like Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, wanted to "drain that abominable pestilence-ridden swamp."

Imagine if they had.