Like many Coloradans in growing communities along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, Longmont resident Chris Klinke doesn’t know if an oil and gas company is extracting fossil fuels trapped in layers of shale beneath his home.
Two wells were drilled within a mile of his house last year. Klinke, the president of a climbing equipment company, had ignored multiple mailed offers to lease his mineral rights in 2021 as he concentrated on bringing the farmhouse on the historic land grant property up to code. He thought they “were standard” because he just purchased the property. Now he’s concerned he might “never see a dime” in royalty payments.
