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Senate confirms Nanticoke native and Wilkes grad Richard Allan. He’s the third on cabinet with area roots.
Allan
HARRISBURG – The state Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Richard Allan as secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
He is the third cabinet member with Northeastern Pennsylvania roots. Allan, 57, of Camp Hill, was appointed to the post by Gov. Tom Corbett on March 23 and had been working as acting secretary since then.
Allan, a native of Nanticoke and a graduate of Wilkes University, said he is anxious to get to work.
First and foremost on Allan’s agenda is his budget. He said DCNR was not cut in the governor’s proposed budget, but he said he needs to determine where the critical needs are.Allan noted that DCNR has seen budget cuts each of the last eight years, losing personnel and funding for operations. He said that despite the cuts, attendance at state parks is ahead of schedule compared to last year.
“The use of state parks is way up compared to a year ago,” Allan said. “We also have a lot of infrastructure work that needs to be done. We need to make a lot of upgrades because nothing has been touched for eight years.”
On Marcellus Shale, Allan said the state holds leases on forest land. He said he will ensure that the industry has the least amount of surface impact no matter what type of lease there is.
“We have guidance procedures and management practices in place as we do monitoring, not enforcement,” Allan said. “We have to assure that everything is being done properly, and so far, everything is going well.”
DCNR employs approximately 3,000 people, 1,000 being seasonal hires. DCNR was established on July 1, 1995.
As secretary, Allan will be responsible for heading the department that is charged with maintaining and preserving the 117 state parks; managing the 2.1 million acres of state forest land; providing information on the state’s ecological and geologic resources; and establishing community conservation partnerships with grants and technical assistance to benefit rivers, trails, greenways, local parks and recreation, regional heritage parks, open space and natural areas.
Last week, Allan appointed Dallas resident Ellen Ferretti as deputy DCNR secretary for state parks and forestry.
“Ellen is a great addition to our agency,” Allan said. “She knows DCNR and she is familiar with the bureau she now heads.”
Corbett has appointed three Northeastern Pennsylvania residents to his cabinet: Allan, Secretary of Revenue Dan Meuser and State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan.
Since 1991, Allan has served as executive director for the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware members of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, the national trade association that represents the recycling industry. Since 2005, he has also been a consultant to energy producers in the electric, wind, solar and coal sectors.
Allan has served on the boards of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Pennsylvania Resources Council since 2000. Allan was also a member of the energy and environmental committees for Corbett’s transition team.
He was a founding member of Back Mountain Recreation Inc., a recreation and environmental facility in Luzerne County, and a founding member of the North Branch Land Trust, which provides management to more than 10,000 acres in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He has also worked with the LACAWAC Sanctuary Foundation.
Allan earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental sciences/biology from Wilkes University in 1976.