Can the public have access to the names of the companies nominating state forest lands for oil and gas leasing?
Prior to any oil and gas lease sale, the public is not granted access to the list of companies that have nominated state forest lands, because the nominations are deemed to reflect proprietary information on specific land parcels. Bidding strategies may be revealed by the company name, as well as the specific lands nominated, and therefore, DCNR has treated this information as confidential by policy for over 25 years. For every nomination, DCNR issues an acknowledgement letter specifically stating that it is our intent to keep confidential the nomination information until the lease is properly executed. At the successful conclusion of the lease sale process, the nomination information may be made available upon request. Immediately following the closing of the bidding portion of the lease sale, the names of all bidders and the amount of their bids are made available to the public.
