A conflict of interest has emerged over University of Tennessee's decision to allow hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas in the forest land controlled by the university and utilize the revenue to fund research to study the environmental impact of such drilling.

According to the university's official website, it has won approval on March 14 by a sub-committee of the State Building Commission to let an outside company drill on about 3,240 hectares of state-owned woodlands in the Cumberland Plateau, which is used as an outdoor laboratory by the university to perform research on the effects on water quality, air quality and ground impacts.

Around 50 people rallied against the university's decision to allow fracking on its land.

Scott Banbury, one of the organizers told the newspaper that the fracking should not be carried out until the protection of water quality is guaranteed.

Environmentalists in the rally argued that preservation of the forest tract is necessary as it is one of the few mature forests remaining in the state's Cumberland Mountain region and fracking could harm its wildlife and scenery.

Gwen Parker, a Nashville-based staff lawyer for the Southern Environmental Law Center, told New York Times that the university is only concentrating on the financial impact rather than the health and environmental concerns.

The forest has been under the university's agriculture department since 1947 and it has been planning to lease out the land since 2001.

William F. Brown, dean of research and director of the university's Agricultural Experiment Station assured that none of the gas companies would have a control over the research and the university would use only safe drilling methods.

Brown told the newspaper that there are unanswered questions regarding the environmental impact caused by fracking and the university is obliged to answer them.