The United States is in the midst of an extraordinary oil and natural gas development boom. The use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling (fracking) has opened numerous shale and other porous formations to oil and gas development in nearly every region of the continent. Given the potential positive and negative impacts of oil and gas resource extraction on local communities, the purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of the above issues and their potential solutions from a local and regional governance perspective. To do so we contacted local government and regional planning officials, with the aid of nationally reaching member organizations, to determine their perception of issues and management solutions, via interviews and surveys, associated with recent oil and gas development.
