The poverty rate in Johnson County is about 15 percent, but it's almost 20 percent among Pope County's 4, 400 residents.

NPR: Scenic, Struggling S. Illinois Braces For Oil Rush

"It could be a real good thing, " says 23-year-old Frank Johnson, who lives in the Pope County seat of Golconda, a shrinking Ohio River town of 670.

NPR: Scenic, Struggling S. Illinois Braces For Oil Rush

But 68-year-old Barney Bush, chairman of a Shawnee Indian settlement in northeastern Pope County, near the Garden of the Gods ancient rock formations and cliffs in the Shawnee National Forest says this area is too special to put at risk for what could be short-term gain.

NPR: Scenic, Struggling S. Illinois Braces For Oil Rush