At a hearing to be held today, the Railroad Commission of Texas will meet to consider how the state oversees energy companies needing access to private land. Deciding who gets access is the cause of an increasing number of land disputes in Texas where drilling has surged.
One dispute involves Hindes Road in La Salle County, which lies halfway between San Antonio and the Mexican border, reports State Impact. Ranchers have always shared the land with energy companies: They make money together. But this oil and gas boom is like nothing ever seen here before. And maybe that’s why this county road has become a source of conflict.
Ranchers and landowners have signed a petition against the county taking over Hindes Road, because while the first few miles of the road are already county-owned, the road comes to a locked gate and continues on private property, bisecting land holdings and a growing number of oil wells.
“It’s not that landowners want ever increasing amounts of money as some people try to characterize it. They want to make sure they can continue a way of life that they’ve had in their families for generations,” says Eric Opiela, a lawyer whose family ranches in South Texas and a member of the South Texans’ Property Rights Association.