Fed up with the legislative process, a group of citizens said Wednesday they will take their effort to get landowner compensation for oil and gas drilling to the voters.
The group, Colorado Landowners for Fairness, announced its intentions and registered with the state as an official ballot-question campaign committee this week, it said.
The move toward the ballot comes as key players negotiating related legislation at the state Capitol go public with their concerns that a House bill touted as a compromise does not guarantee sufficient compensation when private land is damaged by drilling.
Committee organizer John Gorman, a Glenwood Springs Realtor, said he has had a draft of this week’s filing ready for weeks.
“I was suspicious of the (legislative) process from the beginning,” he said. “This is just an option that was always there and we see now as necessary, simply to get a fair shake for the people who are living on the land.”
Members of the coalition that once supported Rep. Kathleen Curry’s attempt to make energy companies pay, House Bill 1185, say they are unhappy with the bill in its current form.
In particular, they want the Gunnison Democrat’s bill to be amended in the Senate to more clearly define the types of damage covered and to more strongly state landowners’ right to compensation, they said.
“We’re not walking away,” said Cathy Carlson of the Colorado Environmental Coalition, which on Monday sent out a news release criticizing Curry’s bill. “We wanted to make it as clear as possible that what passed in the House isn’t going to work for landowners in the state.”
Curry said she believes a compromise still can be reached in the Senate. The possibility of a citizen’s initiative “keeps everyone’s feet to the fire,” she said.
“I understand the frustration from the landowners,” she said. “We’ve had decades where this issue has been in front of us now and it’s not been resolved, and they’re sick of it.”
The energy industry is still willing to work on the bill, but officials fear that if it moves too far in landowners’ favor, energy production in some parts of the state will be jeopardized, said Greg Schnacke of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
“We felt that we gave up things to meet the compromise,” he said. “But we’re certainly willing to talk about any legitimate issue that anybody wants to raise.”
Jeff Kirkendall of the Colorado Association of Realtors said he hopes HB 1185 still can pre-empt the need for a ballot question next fall.
“I always would rather see these issues handled outside of the ballot whenever possible,” he said. “I think it still can be, if everybody remains reasonable and works toward a fair compromise. ”
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
