Gas company creates endowment for local 4-H

Yes, it's a great thing there's now an endowment for 4-H students but am I the only one who smells something rotten here?  Maybe future 4-H'ers can use it to study how to get our landscape, waterways and wells back after the gas companies have used 'em up, spit 'em out, pulled up stakes and left town.  Not to be snarky or anything.

Source: Wellsboro Gazette  3.3.2010
East Resources, Inc. today signed an agreement with Penn State’s Cooperative Extension Service to create a new 4-H endowment fund for Tioga County. East created the endowment with an initial principal investment of $50,000. The fund will be used to supplement financial support for the Tioga County 4-H program and may include educational awards for 4-H members.

“East Resources has a major stake in Tioga County’s future through its oil and gas interests, and our contribution to this endowment reflects East’s commitment to help sustain that future,” says Bob Long, the company’s executive vice president. “Tioga County’s young men and women are the key to the long-term health of our communities, and we appreciate the significant role that the county 4-H program plays in helping them grow into productive, self-directed citizens.”

“4-H, an outreach program of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is a major youth mentoring program that teaches life skills and leadership using science based programs,” noted Dennis Calvin, interim director of Penn State Cooperative Extension. “This generous financial gift for the Tioga County 4-H endowment made by East Resources will help assure that generations of youth will have access to 4-H programs. It will also provide assurance that these youth grow into future local, state, national, and international leaders.”

“Those of us involved with the Tioga County 4-H Program, including the staff here at Tioga County Cooperative Extension, the many dedicated volunteer leaders and 4-H members are very appreciative of East Resources’ generosity,” Robert S. Hansen, D.F., the Tioga County Extension director, said. “Their donation to the Tioga County 4-H Endowment will make it possible for Tioga County 4-H youth to participate in state and national events that otherwise they may not be able to attend.”

East Resources, Inc. is an independent oil and gas producer in the Appalachian and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. East is one of the most active oil and gas explorers in the Appalachian region and is making significant investments in the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus shale. The company holds approximately 900,000 gross acres of Marcellus shale rights in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York, and it employs more than 355 office and field personnel with approximately 60 employees in Tioga County.