A big recent story in the Wall Street Journal chronicles the travails of ranchers in the path of oil and gas drilling or other energy development sweeping across the Rocky Mountain and Plains states.
Ranchers frequently don't own all the mineral rights under their property. Even worse, the courts have ruled that surface holders, which includes ranchers, have to allow access to the owners of mineral rights to exploit them.
This means pastures criss-crossed by roads, gas lines and trucks coming and going without closing gates or watching out for livestock. Cattle have died drinking from ponds of polluted water that are a byproduct of gas drilling.
The income from oil and gas development is nice, if you happen to own a share of the minerals rights. You can come out ahead, if you're working with a conscientious oil company, just from the surface holders share and damage mitigation fees.
Energy development is, more often than not, incompatible with livestock production--and even in the best of circumstances, cuts into livestock profits. It is a judgement call whether or not the energy income offsets the livestock losses.
More and more cases are winding up in court, where so far the energy companies have largely won. However, environmentalists put in place by the incoming Obama administration in the federal agencies, and increasing numbers of Democrats in western state houses and congressional delegations, may soon be restoring some equilibrium to the situation.
The crying need for U.S. energy independence is coming face to face with the livestock and ranching business. There are tradeoffs that are different for each person, and only you can decide what's best for you.
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