Posted on 01/09/2008 6:01:24 PM PST by bruinbirdman
A reclusive billionaire whose family owns the Mars confectionery empire has emerged as a determined opponent of the energy industry's plans to develop one of America's last wilderness states.
Forrest E Mars Jr, the 75-year-old former chief executive of Mars Inc, has drawn on his $14 billion fortune to fire off a clutch of lawsuits to prevent drilling for natural gas and coal on his 82,000-acre Diamond Cross ranch near the town of Birney in south-eastern Montana.
Under threat: The Diamond Cross ranch in Montana
The state is famous for its "Big Sky" and breathtaking scenery but, despite its natural beauty and considerable tourism value, local laws in Western states favour the miners and drillers.
Specifically, nearly half of the state constitutes "split-estate" land, whereby landowners do not control the minerals beneath their property.
The mineral rights under Diamond Cross are owned by Fidelity and another company, Pinnacle Gas Resources.
Although state law gives the companies the right to enter Mr Mars's land to drill, he has so far held them off.
"The perception is that it's the big guy - energy companies - versus the little guy. In this instance that's not the case," said Bruce Williams, the vice-president of Fidelity Exploration and Production.
Pinnacle was last night due to challenge in court a legal move by Mr Mars which has stopped its employees entering his land.
Chris Mangen, a Pinnacle lawyer, said: "As a lawyer it should come down to the facts and the law, but there's no denying that money talks."
Tom Richmond, the administrator of the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, pointed out that as Pinnacle's stock was worth about one per cent of Mr Mars's estimated fortune, he could simply buy the company.
Mars, which was recently ranked America's sixth-largest privately held company, was set up by Mr Mars's grandparents, who started selling chocolates from their kitchen.
Their grandson began to amass property in south-eastern Montana in early 2003, just as natural gas production in the area was booming.
The Mars family has long enjoyed a reputation for secrecy and Mr Mars was not listed as a party in any of the lawsuits launched by his ranch.
His ownership of the land, at the northern end of the Powder River Basin, was only revealed in a court affidavit 10 days ago. The ranch sits in an area with some of the most productive coal and natural gas fields in America.
Mr Mars has refused to comment on the dispute but Loren O'Toole, a lawyer for the Diamond Cross ranch, said his opposition to energy development was rooted in the vast amounts of water that drilling can consume.
For working cattle ranches, such as Diamond Cross, a steady supply of water is a crucial factor in America's arid West.
Mr O'Toole said the lawsuits were not meant to block development. "That's not the point. The point is we can't lose all that water and at the same time have no provision to put it back," he said.
Why didn’t he buy the mineral rights then?
In the west, it is often the case that the federal government came in and stripped off the mineral rights from the land quite some time back.
On our farm in Nevada, the desert land entry started with all the rights, and then just before the Dep’t of Interior deeded the land over to the first owners, the feds stripped the oil and gas rights off the land and held them ‘in trust’ for the ‘American people.’
After that, you cannot buy the mineral rights - you can only lease them.
Minerals rights aren’t always for sale.
NV Dave has the correct answer upthread.
Haha, classic!
For working cattle ranches, such as Diamond Cross, a steady supply of water is a crucial factor in America's arid West.
Mr O'Toole said the lawsuits were not meant to block development. "That's not the point. The point is we can't lose all that water and at the same time have no provision to put it back," he said.
OK, if the above is true then it's a reasonable position and there should be some reasonable way to work this out.
If it's true.
If he doesn’t own the mineral rights, and never did, I don’t see how he can legally prevent drilling. Since he’s a billionaire, he can buy off the courts, but an honest judge would tell him where to shove his Mars Bars.
His professed concerns over the supposed huge amounts of water used in drilling are BS.
“Mars billionaire fights energy firms over drilling “
Sure.
I wouldn’t be shocked if the guy behind Mars candies and about a
million cavaties isn’t a big investor in dental drill and NO2 gas
delivery systems.
And owns a good chunck of the electrical utilities to run the drills.
Yeah, I’m a cynic/skeptic.
But as Andy Grove of Intel says “Only The Paranoid Survive”.
Best Regards,
MaxMax.
Drilling doesn’t take that much water. I used to work out on a rig in the desert. The water was brought out once in awhile in a tanker truck. Most of it was just recirculated down (and up) the well.
As far as other environmental aspects - modern drilling is pretty clean, it has to be with all of the regulations involved. Of course a few new dirt roads will traverse his property.
I wonder if his grandparent’s ever got shut down or sued when their chocolate batches stunk up the neighborhood?
He lost his court case yesterday.
With all the riverrs around their property, I don't think "water" is the real reason for a dispute. The Mars are "recluses".
yitbos
They did more than that. The Federal Goverment owns most of the mineral rights AND most of the surface in Alaska. The State Goverment owns a much smaller but significant portion, about 28%. The natives were awarded about 11% of the land and mineral rights. Private ownerships of land is Alaska is less than 1% of the state.
Land Ownership in Alaska, with map
http://www.conservationgiscenter.org/maps/html/landown.html
State Law is unconstitutional. This is a basic infringement on property rights.
I take the same position on “ground rents” that some cities have.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.