Marcellus Shale Communication Workshop Oct. 25

Registration is open for a workshop, titled “Building Skills in Communication, Coordination and Engagement on Marcellus Shale Issues.” The free session will be held at 6-8 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Seneca Highlands Career and Technical Center in Port Allegany. Pre-registration is required through a website, pasafarming.org/marcellusshalechoices, or by contacting Leah Smith at leah@pasafarming.org or 412-977-6514.

Colcom Foundation provided funding for this and other workshops to help rural landowners, including farmers, better understand the issues related to Marcellus Shale natural gas development and make informed decisions. The Oct. 25 session is designed to improve skills so that advocates can better communicate with key audiences — elected officials and the news media in particular. Smith is affiliated with the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, primary sponsor of the workshop. She emphasized that the organizers remain neutral on the political issues involved with shale gas development. “The focus of the workshop is communication skills and advocacy, regardless of what position a person or group might have,” Smith emphasized.