Friendly Landowners and Their Surprises
FROM THE TRENCHES
Friendly Landowners and Their Surprises
As a Natural Resources Scientist at Zephyr, I spend a lot of time in the field helping oil and gas companies get the necessary environmental authorizations to extend old pipelines and build new ones. Although the environmental permitting and regulatory requirements depend on a number of factors, including whether the pipeline is“ intrastate” or“ interstate,” there is an aspect common to all the projects— before the pipeline goes in the ground, Zephyr has to survey every bit of the right of way at least once to identify the presence of threatened and endangered species( as required by the Endangered Species Act) and to identify wetlands( a U. S. Corps of Engineers requirement). That means covering a lot of ground and becoming experts on the back roads and small town diners of the local area.
Being on the back roads and eating at the family diners can be a trip in itself, but some of my most interesting, enjoyable, and surprising experiences are working with the landowners themselves. Without exception, they take great pride in their property and want to show off their land, whether it covers just a quarter of an acre or several sections.
One of these landowners treated me to a fantastic experience recently. We were working in Fisher County, Texas at a site due north of Sweetwater. The day started like almost every day out in the field— I was to meet the landowner in the middle of nowhere at sunrise. The Zephyr crew and I thought we were at the right spot, but after fifteen minutes with no word from the landowner, we went to our cell phones. Back on track, the landowner told us the right place to meet to start our survey.
After traveling down some dry and dusty county roads for a couple of miles and then another few miles down a two-track dirt road, we arrived at our area of interest.
Natural resource consultants are like water; we’ re drawn to the creeks. The little creek we found was exceptionally beautiful, located in a miniature canyon formed by highly erodible gypsum rock and flowing through a series of braided channels approximately 200 feet wide with incised banks 20 to 30 feet high. To my surprise, this land, primarily known for its cotton and wind farms, was presenting a completely unique scape.
As I sat there with the surveyor crew chief taking in this natural treasure, the landowner, like most landowners, couldn’ t resist
giving us a few pointers about what to expect on the property:“ Watch out for that goat, he can be mean.”“ Make sure to lock the second gate, not the first, and also make sure to spin the lock.” And after the business end of our survey was out of the way, he began to loosen up and tell us the really good stuff. This particular landowner had lived there his entire life, his family had been there for seven generations, and he couldn’ t wait to tell us his stories.“ Indians used to camp over here.”“ There is a cave down there.” And“ I haven’ t seen water this high in years.” So far so good, until he said,“ Let me show you this!” Taking us right up to the edge of the cliff, he started to point out small holes in the gypsum canyon wall.“ Those are snake dens. So make sure to watch for the snakes.”
I have been told to watch out for snakes since the first day I started this type of work, but I always took this advice with a grain of salt. Not thirty seconds after this warning, we heard the steady buzz of one of the famous venomous reptiles of Texas. It was approximately eight feet away, not within striking distance, but close enough to raise the hair on your back. It was a fine specimen. The landowner calmly snagged it with a stick, showed us the rattlesnake in all its glory, then put it down and let it be.
That was probably the third rattlesnake I have seen in almost seven years of field work. I’ m glad the landowner took the time and seven generations worth of knowledge to warn us about it. Z
Tim Clark Natural Resources Scientist
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