Walk about 2012 update and KONY 2012

Before I get started on some useless information about my journey through the south, I would like to make you aware of a movement taking place in our world that may be the most positive thing that has occurred in our world in the last 50 years.  It is called the KONY 2012 campaign.  If you watch one thing on your computer this year, I believe this should be it!  If you are not moved in some way by this story, check into the local morgue.         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpDGfjpOUe4

As you may be aware, Sue and I are on our yearly walk-about in the southern part of our country, where it just so happens to be warmer than where we live. Before we could leave we had to wait for the arrival of our second grandchild who was born on February 23 in Mon General Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. Beautiful Claire Amelia Streisel came into the world at seven pounds with a full head of hair much like her father did 30 years ago.

Several days before we left, I managed to get an early spring cold which placed a damper on my outlook.  On top of this my friend Rich expected me to attend his ritual birthday party at the Wellness Center.  This event entails a swim in the pool in which every year that Rich has existed on this planet (which is quite a few) is represented by one lap in the pool (50 yards). After completing the 56 laps which equates to 2800 yds or 1.6 miles, I went home to continue nursing my cold and preparing for our trip south, but a little more tired than I was already.  Happy birthday Rich and thanks!

On Tuesday February 28, we loaded up the car, strapped the tandem bike to the back and began dreaming of warmer weather.  After about seven hours of driving we arrived in Concord NC where Sue’s sister lives.  We spent a few days visiting and then resumed our search for warmer weather.  Our next stop was our daughter’s house in St Augustine, Fl where it was over 80 degrees!  After several days of riding our bike, long walks and hanging out at the beach the weather began to turn cooler so we decided to continue our quest for warmer weather.  My Uncle Bill is a snow-bird in the interior of Florida near Orlando so we called and asked him if he would like some company for a few days.  He said ‘yes’ so we loaded up, said our goodbyes and ventured off to Uncle Bills.

Uncle Bill is cruising

On the way we stopped by and visited two good friends from Hampshire County.  Dot and Don live in a place called THE VILLAGES, which is an incredible complex of over 90,000 senior citizens living in a beautiful planned community with everything they could ever need or want including TWO  WALMARTS!

My good friend Dot

Sue, me, Dot and Don

Careful never to wear out our welcome we traveled over to the gulf coast and stayed in a hotel near Anna Maria Beach.  The following day Sue and I went to the beach where I proceeded to get one heck of a sun burn.  For the next two nights I endured the pain of a burned chest and sides.

Anna Maria sunset

Having experienced Anna Maria Beach we continued to what is rated the #1 beach in America for 2012, Siesta Beach, Florida.  The sand is like sugar, the water is crystal clear and the eye candy is out of this world.  A man I met on the beach saw my red skin and offered me his umbrella to protect my delicate exterior.

                                   On the beach in March!  What a thrill!

After some time on the beach, we made the short trip over to the home of Joyce and Cecil Tennant in Fort Myers.

Joyce breaking the speed limit

Cecil staying cool

In a couple of days we will end up on Sanibel Island where Sue’s sister and husband are staying for the winter.  At that time we will decide if the planned bike trip from Key West to near Miami is still on the table.

Stay warm and think Kony 2012!

Forced pooling. What is it?

http://www.wvroa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52:forced-pooling&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

West Virginia Royalty Owners Association

Forced Pooling occurs when a corporation forcibly takes an individual’s oil and gas property in order to maximize the development of oil and gas production. Force Pooling is used when an oil and gas corporation has leased a portion of the mineral rights for a unit of acreage. If the corporation is unable to acquire enough of the acreage to begin production, it goes through a hearing process with the state to forcibly take the acreage from the individual in order to have enough property interest to begin production. This process may occur because the oil and gas ownership for a tract has a clouded title or the tract has lost and/or unaccounted for heirs. While ownership issues may make Forced Pooling is necessary in some rare instances, the major concern is when it is used to forcibly take the property rights of owners who refuse to be leased or who refuse to accept leases that are below the market price.

The Force Pooling process will affect negotiations for all leasing in West Virginia and impact the property rights of many West Virginia mineral owners.

According to the West Virginia State Tax Department, there are over 500,000 owners of oil and gas mineral interests in West Virginia. In other words, roughly a quarter of the state is subject to the tactic of Forced Pooling. Forced Pooling raises many constitutional issues similar to those that arose during eminent domain arguments; in particular, with use of Forced Pooling, it must be assured that the individual property owners’ rights are protected. Proper negotiation and fairness in the Force Pooling process must be the basis of any bill that impacts so many West Virginians. If the tactic of Forced Pooling is to be allowed, there are several issues the legislature must consider in order to protect the property rights of West Virginians:

1. Acreage Secured: A company should have the vast majority of the acreage unit leased before it employs the tactic of Forced Pooling to invade the property rights of owners. Any bill that allows Forced Pooling should require an operator to have at least 90% of the unit leased before the Forced Pooling process can begin. This standard requires oil and gas operators to work with owners to negotiate leases and not use the Forced Pooling process to avoid such negotiations. An exception should be made when significant acreage within a proposed unit is owned by individuals who cannot be located or acreage is tied up in heirship. These particular protections will protect the negotiation rights of owners while still allowing Forced Pooling to occur in situations that warrant its use. Those submitting a request for force pooling must identify all the tracts within the unit by County Assessor’s surface Tax Map and Parcel number.

2. Permission to Force Pool: There must be a process in place to ensure adequate negotiations have occurred before any oil and gas corporation is permitted to Force Pool individual mineral owners. Forced Pooling should only be a last resort used when the oil and gas corporation has made every effort to work with mineral owners to secure a fair lease. Simply sending out a form letter with no specific lease terms hardly provides the sort of notice and negotiation that must be required if an individual’s mineral interests are at stake. In order to ensure fair negotiations have occurred, an operator must show the date he or she has met with the oil and gas owner, provide a detailed account of the negotiation process (terms offered, counteroffer, etc.), and give an explanation of why the owner’s terms could not be met.

3. Acreage and Formations in the Pool: Forced Pooling should only apply to the acreage that is being petitioned for production. [For Example: If an individual owner has 100 acres of oil and gas property and only 25 acres of the oil and gas property is listed in the submitted unit description, the 25 Forced Pooled acres should not tie up the entire 100 acre parcel. An operator should show a map with the 100 acres clearly marked in relation to the 25 acres that is trying to be pooled.] Any acreage not in the boundary should not be included in the Forced Pooling order. Additionally, the formation(s) covered by a forced pooling lease will only be those formations identified by the operator as target zones in the well permit application.

4. Leasing Terms: Oftentimes, a company will submit a “standard” lease to a governmental board or committee to illustrate the leasing terms which would bind all who are force pooled into a particular drilling unit. In the interest of transparency, oil and gas operators should provide the terms of leases they have taken within a 10 mile radius of the proposed well within the last 36 months. If the company provides an Order of Payment which only lists the net acreage of the unit and the total Bonus payment for the acreage, the property owner should be paid the highest amount paid by any operator within the area and time frame stipulated. Property owners deserve fair compensation for their interests and transparency in the leasing terms and this process will help achieve that goal. The amount to be paid to a mineral owner as a royalty payment shall be equal to the highest price paid for any lease executed within the time frame stipulated; however, under no circumstances should the royalty paid to forced pooled owners be less than 3/16th’s (18.75%) of the gross sales with no post production deductions.

5. Adequate State Oversight: When Forced Pooling has been raised with other State legislatures, including Pennsylvania and Virginia, a main concern has been adequate state oversight of payment to mineral owners. Any such bill should cause the Operator to have a West Virginia independent accounting firm audit the accounting for the forced pooled unit and submit the report to the State Tax Department annually. These reports should be made available to any owner in the unit upon request.

Summary

Forced Pooling will provide private corporations the ability to take an individual’s property. If the legislature is going to permit this tactic to be used, it should ensure that the property rights of West Virginians are at the forefront of the discussion and that just compensation is assured through the terms of any statutory scheme.

A private corporation seeking to Force Pool an owner must secure a substantial portion of the oil and gas ownership and show that legitimate lease negotiations have been attempted yet been unsuccessful. The corporation’s use of Force Pooling must not impede the rights of the mineral owner to use portions of the property that are not in the order. Additional, the corporation must fully disclose the terms of the lease in order to promote transparency and fairness in the transaction. Finally, there must be state oversight including in any statute to assure payment to the owners.

Last Updated (Monday, 21 March 2011 15:20)

On another walk-about

Sue and I are headed south to the warm state of Florida.  While we are there we plan to take a boat to the bottom of the Keys and ride our tandem back to the mainland.

If any of you readers would like for us to drop in on our way south, we would love to if it fits into our planned approximate course.

Just let us know. Have a great March here in the subarctic!

Cancer treatment

I have lost many friends to this horrible disease.  If you know someone or are personally involved with terminal cancer you should listen to this show.  Although this treatment is not yet available in this country, it is available in parts of Europe.  That is a long way to travel but a short distance if it saves a life!

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2012/02/25/780-cancer-and-the-immune-system/

Say hello to Claire Amelia Streisel

Say Hello to Claire Amelia Streisel. Born 8:18am Feb 23rd. We wish Scott and Amy the best of times.

Scott, Amy, and Claire at Mon Hospital.

Finding One’s Way

I have written many times about the numerous non-truths that exist in our world.  One of my favorites is our eating habits.  I am ready to announce the results of my latest eating experiment on yours truly, me.  About a year ago I was gaining weight despite excessive exercise, eating less, still seeing my blood pressure approach 160/85,  while seeing my blood sugar gradually increasing.  Having spent much of my life pursuing a healthful life-style, I was somewhat confused.  Why was this happening to me?  Yeah, I am getting older so one must expect things to start breaking down, but I was not ready to moth ball the old tennis shoes at 62.  My son started talking to me about a new approach to eating called PRIMAL or THE CAVE MAN DIET.  As always I began collecting information and as always my friends had to endure long sessions of my expounding on it.  The concept is quite simple: eat the way a person would eat when we were primitive.  Said another way, eat all things that come directly from the earth, not chemistry labs.  Shop around the perimeter of the food store where the meats, dairy, cheese, vegetables, fruit and generally healthier food are.  Stay away from the middle of the store where all the processed food is shelved.

So now the unveiling of the new me:  I have lost over 15 pounds while my body fat ranges around 14%.  My blood pressure, the last time I measure it, was 125/73 and my blood sugar has returned to its normal levels.

I know many people who are struggling mightily with their weight; I believe this new way of eating, not to be confused with the word diet, is the way to go.  All you have to do is eat REAL food, not processed food.

The really cool thing with this way of eating is that you can eat as much as you want as long as it is real food.

Enjoy!

Carriso may be leaving

Maybe we have been given some breathing room in our effort to slow down the mad rush to explore the natural gas in Hampshire County. Due to lowered production expectation, lower revenue, negative public sentiment and general public outcry, the Carriso Gas Company has decided to pull up stakes and cease exploratory drilling in Hampshire County.  Having been involved with this issue for more than a year, I am somewhat relieved that our beautiful county will not become an industrial wasteland.

One big feather in our cap is that we stopped the building of a recycling plant along the river due in large part to the intense negative reaction of the courageous residents living along River Road.  Of course, some folks still believe that jobs were stifled and our county was kept from moving forward.  But how will the future judge us?  For now our county remains pristine and our precious water pure for the foreseeable future.  I say this is a win for all residents of Hampshire County!

 

Check it out yourself.

http://frack.skytruth.org/home/whats-new/westvirginiafrackalerts