Mid Hudson News Network reports on a Cooperative Extension program in the southern Catskills attended by approximately 30 landowners, many of them farmers, on the benefits and concerns of leasing land for gas exploration. “State regulations don’t protect agricultural productivity,” the story quotes Ken Smith of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chenango County saying. "It doesn’t assume that natural gas development is going to happen next year or the following year, but, the reality is that they are being asked to make decisions now that are going to affect their property perhaps as far in advance as 40 or 50 years,” he said. Smith, whose county has been at the center of gas drilling leases in New York State, said his message to landowners is to make sure you know what you are getting into before agreeing to any leases. And that, he added, requires professional help, especially given that the siting of well pads and roads may threaten existing agricultural activity that can last for generations.