Western Organization of Resource Councils
2401 Montana Avenue, #301
Billings, Montana 59101
406.252.9672 • billings@worc.org
Landowners Support Proposal to Protect Western Water and Surface Owners Facing Oil and Gas Development
Udall Bill Seeks Balance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, May 4, 2005
(GARFIELD COUNTY, COLO.) - Following intense debates by state legislatures on surface owner protections, Representative Mark Udall (D-Colo.) has reintroduced federal legislation to balance oil and gas development with protections for landowners and water resources.
Udall reintroduced the “Western Waters and Farm Lands Protection Act” on Tuesday. The bill would establish clear requirements for proper management of ground water, involve surface owners in plans for oil and gas development, provide landowners with advance notice of lease sales affecting their lands, and require reclamation plans and reclamation bonds.
“This bill balances America’s need for oil and gas with the need to protect western water and landowners living and working in the midst of booming energy development,” said Carol Bell, a hay producer from Garfield County, Colo., and spokesperson for WORC (Western Organization of Resource Councils). WORC represents farmers, ranchers, and consumers in seven western states.
State legislatures in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming considered surface owner protection proposals this year. The Colorado bill died on a 6-5 vote in the House Agriculture Committee. The Montana legislature set up an interim study committee. In New Mexico, the House passed a bill, but it died in the Senate when the legislature ran out of time. North Dakota passed a bill requiring landowner notification within one-half mile of seismic activity, and Wyoming passed a bill with a broader range of surface owner protections.
Bell expects landowners will push again for surface owner protection during the next legislative sessions.
Development of federal oil and gas resources has increased dramatically in recent years in response to higher prices, technological innovations, and efforts by the Bush administration to speed-up permitting and production. The energy bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would increase development of federally-owned oil and gas minerals through a combination of subsidies, tax incentives, and exemptions from environmental laws and public review requirements.
“The ongoing fossil fuel extraction boom in America’s West is providing energy reserves for our country,” Bell said. “But living and working in the heart of this boom is a challenge, especially because so many landowners like me don’t own the mineral rights under their surface. This means we have little say in how the development proceeds. As well density increases to ten-acre spacing, surface impacts increase as do impacts on air and water quality.”
In addition to WORC, the American Farm Bureau, Colorado Farm Bureau, Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union, and Colorado Association of Wheat Growers have endorsed the legislation.
“Udall’s bill would help our nation take a leap toward protecting our water and toward promoting equality between energy development and western farmers’ and ranchers’ surface rights,” Bell said.