A Gobernador rancher who appears in a new television ad that promotes
stronger federal methane rules related to leaks and the practices of
venting and flaring by the oil and gas industry has found himself
straddling the line between environmental activists and the industry. Earlier this month, a nonprofit conservation group based in Montana and Colorado launched a
television ad campaign
to call attention to royalties lost each year related to methane
escaping from current production practices on public lands. The
Western Values Project rolled
out the TV spot featuring Rio Arriba County rancher Don Schreiber, who
said that like the ongoing debate over oil and gas operations in the San
Juan Basin, his appearance in the ad is complicated. In a phone
interview, Schreiber said that when he and his wife, Jane, both retired
from life in Farmington and bought the 480-acre Devil's Spring Ranch in
Gobernador in 1999, the couple, though familiar with oil and gas
operations in the Four Corners area, had a lot to learn. Schreiber
said that trying to develop the ranch to preserve the land and "reclaim
some of the ranching heritage that was so rich in the state" meant he
faced a learning curve on how oil and gas operators produce oil and gas,
from building roads to flaring natural gas. "We tried to get a
grip on the process (of oil and gas development) and had a lot of
head-knocking with companies and the regulations," Schreiber said. "We
weren't trying to stop them from drilling. We were trying to get them to
change the way they did it." Schreiber said that at one point, he
chained a small trailer to a temporary gate that blocked one of the
access roads on his ranch and stayed put in it for three days in the
dead of winter before oil and gas company workers showed up with a fig
leaf — a box of donuts. He said his impulsive act of protest
taught him a lesson in diplomacy — a balance of "actively resisting and
actively engaging with (the industry)" — which he said he stands by
today...
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