RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
A national wildlife refuge in Southern Colorado may soon have oil and gas drilling rigs on it. That has allowed people upset because four years ago, the federal government paid $33 million to establish the refuge on private land. The goal was to create a preserve. Now, it turns out a Canadian company owns the right to drill there.
NPR's Jeff Brady reports.
JEFF BRADY: The Baca National Wildlife Refuge is at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Nearby in the foothills is the small town of Crestone.
(Soundbite of dog barking)
BRADY: Aside from a couple of dogs, it's quiet - that's one reason more than a dozen spiritual groups have moved here. Christian Dillo heads the Crestone's Spiritual Alliance and he directs a local Zen Buddhist center. His group is asking the federal government to stop plans to drill test wells on the refuge.
Mr. CHRISTIAN DILLO (Director, Crestone Spiritual Alliance): Now, there are two drilling sites proposed, but what if they really find something? Then, you know, people will come in and this could start to be a, yeah, an oil - a gas field.
BRADY: This part of Colorado has largely escaped the gas boom that's awakened many sleepy towns in the Rockies. But that may be about to change. The company that owns the mineral rights under the refuge, Toronto-based Lexam, believes there may be huge gas reservoirs there. When the federal government bought the Baca ranch a few years back, there was an unsuccessful effort to buy the mineral rights too. Since there hadn't been drilling in the area, most locals assumed there wouldn't be in the future.
(Soundbite of footsteps)
BRADY: Getting to the refuge requires a short walk on the snow this time of year. Christine Canaly is with the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council.
Ms. CHRISTINE CANALY (Director, San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council): We're now standing right next to the Baca National Wildlife Refuge and we're not allowed on the refuge yet because there's no management plan in place.
BRADY: Developing that plan involves extensive surveys of what plants and animals are there and what needs protecting. But when someone owns the mineral rights underground, they have a legal right to access those minerals by crossing over the surface property. Separate ownership of surface and minerals is called a split estate, and this exists all over the West. It can leave a surface property owner feeling helpless as big trucks and tall drilling rigs trample their fields. But Canaly says there are protections for surface owners.
Ms. CANALY: We do have rights and we have the rights to protect our resources, and they don't need to be sacrificed at the expense of somebody else getting their resource.
BRADY: Canaly's group filed a successful legal challenge last year, and now the drilling proposal must go through a more thorough environmental analysis. She hopes, eventually, the federal government will find a way to bar any drilling. But Refuge manager Michael Blenden says that's seems unlikely because the law is clear on the rights of mineral owners.
Mr. MICHAEL BLENDEN (Project Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service): We're not in the position saying yes or no. We are in the position of working with the mineral company to minimizing those surface disturbances.
BRADY: Blenden is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He also lives in this borough community. So this is a battle with his neighbors.
Mr. BLENDEN: It's challenging when we have an issue like this where all of the sudden, you're faced with trying to explain subtleties of law to people that really aren't interested in subtleties because they just don't like things.
BRADY: Meantime, drilling opponents hoped money can be raise to buy the mineral rights and then retire them, but that's assuming the company is even willing to sell them.
Lexam declined an interview request for this story. It's already began the expensive geological testing, perhaps clearing the way for drilling rigs to make their way here soon.
Jeff Brady, NPR News, Denver.