The Oilman Cometh

by Kelly Matheson

Your rights as a landowner For more information about surface owners' rights, please contact the following: Northern Plains Resource Council Phone: (406) 248-1154 Website Powder River Basin Resource Council Phone: (307) 672-5809 Website Linda Baker, Grassroots Coordinator Upper Green River Valley Coalition Phone: (307) 360-7198 Email: lindab@wyoming.com Kelly Matheson, Greater Yellowstone Program Coordinator Wyoming Outdoor Council Phone: (307) 332-7031 ext. 20 Email: kelly@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org

Over the past 40 years, the oilman has been knocking on the doors of landowners throughout Wyoming's rugged landscape. He works for the oil and gas industry and is vested with the responsibility to negotiate deals between landowners and the oil and gas companies that own the mineral rights underneath the homes of ranchers, farmers and other rural Wyoming residents.

During the last five years, residents of the Powder River Basin have come to know the oilman well, as he has been hard at work diligently negotiating deals between landowners and energy companies taking advantage of the coalbed methane boom.

This past summer, the oilman expanded his operations, setting up shop in the upper Green River Valley, where the boom has just begun. (See "The Next Powder River Basin?" on page 7.)

Unconditional Industry Rights?

The Merna 3D Seismic Exploration Project triggered the most recent "Open for Business" sign in an office window on Pinedale's Main Street. If approved, the Merna Project, proposed by Veritas DGC Land Inc., will send 65,000-pound thumper trucks, ATVs and other four-wheel-drive vehicles across 250 square miles of undisturbed lands in the upper Green River Valley.

As proposed, the trucks will drive in a tight grid pattern through a crucial big-game migration corridor, crushing up to 70% of the brush plants in their path Ñ plants that mule deer and pronghorn depend upon for their winter survival. This forage is especially critical in view of the ongoing drought.

Since only a third of the project area is on public land, the seismic company sent its oilman knocking on the doors of residents in the Merna Project Area near Daniel. The oilman came with a deal: he'd pay landowners $3.00 per acre in exchange for the unconditional right to cross private surface lands with his gigantic thumper trucks that leave a 100-foot-wide swath of destruction in their paths.

Ringing Phones, Pleas for Help

The oilman's high-pressure sales pitch generated ringing phones at WOC with pleas for help, since the oilman offered little information to his target audience about surface-owner rights.

"Must I give the seismic company permission to cross my land with its heavy equipment?" the callers asked. Unfortunately, the answer is complicated. Surface owners must first investigate whether they own the mineral rights under their properties. If not, they must find out how those rights were acquired by the oil and gas industry.

Next, landowners should consult an attorney, since this area of law is incredibly complicated. However, other general resources can supply some background information and an overview of landowner rights.

It is critical that surface owners understand their rights, since this is only the beginning of the oilman's visits to homes and ranches in the upper Green River Valley. If the seismic tests show gas under landowners' ground, the oilman will be back with more deals.