Westerners

Westerners from Montana to New Mexico appear emboldened by a new Wyoming law giving more rights to property owners, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now reviewing longstanding “split estate” rules, where the surface rights are privately owned but the subsurface rights are publicly held. The issue is of particular concern in the Rocky Mountain states, where coalbed methane (CBM) exploration is expanding, and property owners see their land rights diminishing.