Big oil and gas companies will stop at nothing to frack American soil, and our favorite parks are no different. They are already fracking in some national forests like the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, and on lands next to National Parks like Sequoia and Kings Canyon in California.¹

Sign the petition to ban fracking in our precious parks and public lands.

Our national treasures should be protected, but the oil and gas industry wants to keep opening new areas to fracking. We’ve seen time and time again that they’ll cut corners at the expense of our health and the environment in order to turn a bigger profit. And our own government agencies openly admit that 40 percent of high risk wells on public lands are not even being inspected.²

Fracking is inherently unsafe. We can’t rely on regulation to protect the water we drink, the air we breathe and the health of our communities. Ask your Senators and Representative to introduce a bill to ban fracking on public lands.

Our U.S. parks and public lands are truly precious. Not only do they give us a place to hike, swim and enjoy the great outdoors, many also protect critical drinking water sources. The George Washington National Forest in Virginia is home to the headwaters of the Potomac River, the primary source of drinking water for Washington, D.C. Right now, the industry wants to open the park to fracking, and if they win, it could put all of that at risk — including your Congress member’s drinking water.

A year ago this August, Food & Water Watch and our allies hand delivered over 650,000 public comments against new rules by the Obama administration that would allow fracking on public lands.³ But to this date, the Obama administration has done nothing to protect the parks, and has continued to pursue drilling and fracking at the expense of our public health.

1. Protect America’s Public Lands and Parks from Fracking, Food & Water Watch, August 13, 2014
2. 40 Percent of High Risk Oil and Gas Wells Aren’t Inspected As Feds Struggle to Keep Up, AP, June 15, 2014
3. 650,000 Comments Call on Obama Administration to Ban Fracking on Public Lands, EcoWatch, August 23, 2013

SOURCE: Food & Water Watch