Posted: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 12:00 am
Mineral rights are so complex in the western United States that officials of one real estate company that specializes in large-scale properties feels compelled to offer the following disclaimer:
“Mineral rights can be a very complex concept … In purchasing or selling a property you might find that the mineral rights have already been conveyed years ago to someone else. The larger railroads, mining companies and oil companies are generally the holders of most of these mineral rights.
“Occasionally we will sell a ranch with all the mineral rights intact, but this is the exception and not the norm. If you/re interested in obtaining mineral rights along with the property you/re buying, we strongly recommend that you contact a qualified attorney for further information.C
Wait a minute. You buy the land, you own the right to what/s under the land, right? Wrong.
Since the late 1800s, western land owners/ properties have been invaded 7 often unannounced 7 by energy companies or miners, who then proceed to dig 7 usually without the owner/s permission 7 for whatever it is they seek.
While this may seem a dreadful violation of personal property rights by us urban dwellers, it/s business as usual in the wide-open ranges of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and other western states.
An oil company can show up next to your bedroom window at 5 a.m., start drilling and be there for years. When they/ve taken what they can, they pull up and go, leaving the property owner with a mess to clean up.
That/s been the law. You may own the rights to the surface, but what lies beneath has been fair game for prospectors and drillers. But perhaps not for much longer.
The legislatures of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming have recently passed bills that require prospecting companies to negotiate a deal with property owners. It/s the first change in the so-called “split-estatesC concept in more than a century.
Even energy company officials admit the practice is unfair to property owners, though some insist the need to satisfy the nation/s appetite for fuel should outweigh an individual/s property rights. We disagree. If energy companies want to prospect, let them work with those who own the land.
And, meanwhile, we all should be curbing our appetite for a form of energy that can, and will be, exhausted at some point.
June 6, 2007