Gas boom colliding with rural way of life
Ranchers, others fear pollution and a drop in property values
These days, the Johnsons are worried their operation will end up worthless. Energy companies hunting for natural gas are snapping up land all around them, either through old oil shale claims or through federal auctions. Some now have claims on minerals under the same land the Johnsons lease for grazing their cattle in the pasture-dotted hills northwest of Rifle. Roads are being built, and plans are in the works for new wells.
Dan Johnson fears that if the companies drill in the narrow gulches around his property — the conduits for moving cattle from pasture to pasture — he'll lose precious grazing land and be out of business. He and his wife, both in their late 40s, can feel their dream of passing their business to their two daughters slipping away.
"Cattle prices are way below the rest of the economy," Johnson said. "Equipment prices keep going higher, the fuel prices keeping going higher.
The energy boom that has dominated much of the Rocky Mountain West for the past several years has been a mixed blessing. It has brought millions to tiny counties happy to have the money, but the rapid development has become a top concern for retirees, those in a fledgling tourism-based economy and professionals whose relocations to once-quiet towns have helped make the West one of the nation's fastest-growing regions.
"That growth has not been built around growth in the natural resource industry," said Thomas Power, professor and head of the University of Montana's economics department. He said Westerners need to weigh what they're willing to sacrifice for "a very temporary expansion in the economy."
Mineral development — oil and gas, coal, gold, silver and uranium mining — for decades has provided the West with high-paying jobs and great infusions of wealth. It's also been followed by busts that states have worked hard to offset by diversifying their economies. Hunters and anglers — worried that drilling, truck traffic and erosion from well sites are already harming antelope, deer and other animals — are teaming up with environmentalists to lobby for habitat protection.
They are among many residents who say natural resources — their beauty and their preservation — now play a huge role in the region's economic health.
"The gold in them thar hills is coming in the pockets of people retiring here for the quality of life," said Dave Kearsley, a Grand Junction investment adviser and attorney who moved from Massachusetts to Grand Junction for that very thing.
You can be the first to comment on this story.