As a Wayne Countian, born and raised, Dave Rickert has witnessed industry slipping ever so slowly away over the years and the good-paying jobs that come with it - an enduring trend that continues unabated here and across the country. 
But the entrepreneur, who has dabbled in everything from owning a recreational-vehicle dealership to trademarking his own brand of candy which still sells today, sees an unexpected opportunity on the horizon for a county struggling to get out of its rural malaise - natural gas.
Like it or not, Rickert believes it will spread money to landowners direly in need of some luck, some of whom include farmers that are barely getting in what has increasingly become a high-stakes, global marketplace.
“I just see this as the new frontier for industry in Wayne County,” said Rickert, who speaks with a Preston Tucker flair, the historically famous entrepreneur that tried to mass-produce an innovative car in the 1940s against all odds.
“This is something that’s here that we need to capture. We need to be willing to work together as a community.”
The new frontier - with the county residing above what has been deemed the world’s largest natural gas reserve, the Marcellus Shale - has spurred Rickert to recently become a local negotiator for residents who would like to lease their land to natural-gas companies which may eventually harvest and sell the energy commodity.
Hundreds upon hundreds of landowners have already jumped on the bandwagon, giving companies the right to explore and possibly drill for natural gas.
Yet quite a few remain waiting in the wings or have no interest whatsoever - mainly, on the latter due to environmental concerns.
“I don’t get involved with anything unless I know it’s on the up and up,” he said in an interview at his business office slash family and friend gathering place near Seelyville on Tuesday. Named Sunset Ranch, it sits atop a peak off Route 6 with stunning views of the Moosic Mountains, clear vistas straight to Mount Pleasant and Hancock, New York.
(The property has been leased for production).
Partnering with another lease negotiator who has extensive experience in the industry, he formed OutHouse Natural Gas, based at the Seelyville ranch. Getting him fired up, he said local landowners have experienced out-of-towners pitching leases containing unfavorable terms and undervalued royalty and up-front payments.
“We’re just trying to put the landowner on a level-playing field,” he added. “This is a new industry that we are not aware of.”
His focus is finding willing landowners in the vicinity of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, a 14,200 mile major natural-gas transmission line that services the New York Metropolitan area and would also be utilized by natural-gas companies drilling in the county in order to get the commodity to market.
Currently, he is working with a bevy of landowners along the pipeline stretch, representing thousands of acres, trying to seal a deal down the road for them. The area includes Berlin, Cherry Ridge, and Dyberry townships, and Bethany and Honesdale boroughs. No deal has been made yet.
He would like to fetch at minimum $6,000 an acre of up-front cash for the landowner, along with a 20 percent royalty rate - prices that are now being seen in Susquehanna County, a hotspot of Marcellus Shale production. This week, he said he is meeting with representatives from Chesapeake Energy, Stone Energy, and Hess - three significant natural-gas production companies.
“We want to represent the landowners ... to protect the integrity of their land through proper lease provisions,” he said, adding that some residents were handed bad deals that included a 12.5 percent royalty and meager up-front cash.
He acknowledged that the primary concern is environmental impact, mostly revolving around groundwater, an issue shared by all whether they are leased or not. It has created essentially three camps: those completely for drilling, those completely against it, and those in the unsure middle.
“The utmost and first imperative is the environment and I believe it can be addressed,” he said. “We can harvest this mainly with just common sense.”
His second concern, shared by some yet relished by others, is the Delaware River Basin Commission, a multi-state compact that is charged with protecting the watershed.
The commission regulates water quantity and quality in the river basin, which includes most of Wayne County. It has the ability to green-light or red-light natural gas production here and has thus far signaled caution by postponing - for quite some time - the three permit applications it has received. Caution can also mean bringing the industry here to a halt.  The Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which regulates water resources in that watershed, has given the go-ahead on numerous natural-gas permits.
“The whole suppression of this gas industry in Wayne County is the Delaware River Basin Commission, respectfully,” he said. “It is holding us up.”
A spokesperson for the commission has told The Wayne Independent that that is not the intent.
Natural gas companies wanting to drill in Wayne County also need approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which has OK’d several drill permits in the county, according to the agency’s records.