Seth Perlman / AP

Lucy Childers, 6, plays on the rock formations at Ferne Clyffe State Park in Goreville, Ill.

By Tammy Webber, The Associated Press

VIENNA, Ill. — This is the Illinois that many people never see — the sparsely populated southern tip where flat farmland gives way to rolling hills, rocky outcrops, thick forests and cypress swamps.

Blacktopped county roads wend through no-stoplight towns. Locals speak in soft drawls and talk of generations who've lived on the same land or in the same villages. The remote and rugged Shawnee National Forest attracts hikers, campers and horseback riders, and offers a stark contrast to the rest of a state that largely has been plowed, paved or suburbanized.

But many here are beginning to brace for change as the Illinois Legislature considers regulations that could set off a rush among energy companies to drill deep in the southern Illinois bedrock for oil and natural gas. The crews would be using a process known as high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," that has transformed the landscape in places like North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

Read the full story.

Seth Perlman / AP

Majestic rock formations attract outdoor enthusiasts, tourists, climbers and backpackers at Garden of the Gods Wilderness Area near Herod, Ill.

Seth Perlman / AP

Cypress trees, many of which are more than 1,000-years-old and exceed 40 feet in circumference, stand in the Cache River State Natural Area near Belknap, Ill.

Dynagas Ltd via EPA

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier OB River moves through ice in the arctic on Nov. 14.

European Pressphoto Agency -- The Ob River, a ship carrying liquefied natural gas, left Norway in November and has sailed north of Russia on its way to Japan. The specially equipped tanker is due to arrive in early December and will shave 20 days off the regular journey. If this trip is successful, it would be the first ship of its type to sail across the Arctic.

According to the BBC, changing ice conditions and a strong increase in the use of shale gas from the United States make the route attractive.

Editor's note: European Pressphoto Agency made these photos available to NBC News on Nov. 27.

DYNAGAS Ltd via EPA

The LNG carrier OB River moves through ice in the arctic on Nov. 14.

DYNAGAS Ltd via EPA

The LNG carrier OB River moves through ice in the arctic on Oct. 8.

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Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Left: Sherry Vargson, who leased the mineral rights under a portion of her farm to the gas company Chesapeake Energy, illustrates her assertion that methane has leached into her well water by lighting the water on fire as it pours from her kitchen sink in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania, March 8.
Right: Ray Kimble shows the discoloration in a gallon of water he says came from his well in Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 8.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the extent of the water problems.

European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) reports:The gas rush in Pennsylvania, created by the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—which requires injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the Earth's surface to extract reserves of natural gas, has brought an economic boom to the state, generating 23,000 jobs, and billions of dollars in state and local tax revenues. It has caused complaints in Northeastern Pennsylvania that the drilling is polluting the water table with dangerous quantities of methane. Some residents now rely on outside water distribution, and are making their protests heard. Yet with the gas industry expected to keep drilling here—as many as 2,500 new wells are expected in Pennsylvania every year—residents opposed to fracking are bracing for a drawn-out fight.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Ray Kimble fills up a 500 gallon water tank, called a buffalo, with fresh water which he will then distribute daily to neighbors whose water is non-potable near Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 8.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Support trucks for hydraulic fracturing are seen in the reflection of a car's side mirror outside Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 9. Heavy gas drilling trucks have caused so much damage to local roads that communities are requiring gas companies to bond the roads, and thus reimburse the towns for asphalt repairs.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Anti-fracking protestors concerned about natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale gather outside the Marcellus Midstream Conference and Exhibition, which promotes the development of infrastructure needed to transport and process natural gas, at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., March 20.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

A hydraulic fracturing drill rig at dusk near Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, March 9. The drilling practice requires injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the earth's surface to extract reserves of natural gas.

The Marcellus Shale formation that lies under parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia is believed to hold 84 trillion cubic feet (2.38 trillion cubic meters) of recoverable natural gas -- enough to supply the nation's gas-burning electrical plants for 11 years. But health concerns have risen over the drilling practice which many believe have caused air and groundwater pollution in other states where thousands of shale gas wells have been drilled — including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

• Here, in New York, a coalition has formed to fight fracking.
• In Wyoming, environmentalists are suing over the fluids during the process.
• More on the drilling practice in Pennsylvania on NPR.
• New York Times Magazine story on fracturing in Pennsylvania from Nov. 2011.
• More about hydraulic fracturing process and studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• FAQ from the Environmental Protection Agency on natural gas drlling in the Marcellus Shale (PDF)

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