Lines are drawn in a classic northern New Mexico land-use battle as Rio Arriba County Commissioners move to impose a six-month moratorium on new oil and gas drilling.

Meanwhile, the Texas company poised to drill in the Tierra Amarilla region of the county is pleading ignorance of the county's environmental concerns.

Rio Arriba County is rooted deeply in land-use issues. It was in Tierra Amarilla that a group of Spanish land grant protesters seized control of the county courthouse June 3, 1967, to focus attention on land-use matters.

If county commissioners follow through with plans to slap a six-month countywide moratorium on oil and gas drilling later this month, oil and natural gas workers in San Juan County stand to take a significant hit, local industry officials claim.

That's because although both counties produce natural gas in the northwest part of New Mexico, only San Juan County is home to the workers whose jobs are in the San Juan Basin's oil and gas patch.

Independent producer Tom Mullins, principal/engineering

manager of Synergy Operating, LLC, estimates at least 40 percent of new drilling in northwest New Mexico would be affected by a moratorium. The restriction, added to existing restrictions from November to April to improve deer and elk habitat would "cripple" the local economy, Mullins said.

"John Q. Public is going to have to stand up and protest the insanity of what government is doing to destroy private industry and the economy of the West," he said. "In conjunction with the forthcoming pit rule, the national housing crisis and bank bailouts, this proposal is certainly not the type of stimulus our economy needs."

Echoing other industry spokesmen, Mullins predicted that businesses and their associated contributions to local jobs and local tax revenue will relocate to "more friendly lands."

Taking a more cautious stance, the largest natural gas producer in the San Juan Basin, ConocoPhillips, issued the following statement:

"ConocoPhillips became aware of Rio Arriba County's proposal to pass a drilling moratorium last week," company spokesman John Zent said. "We can't speculate on what the county resolution might or might not include when the proposal is completed, but we look forward to working with the commissioners to determine the impact of the proposal."

Causing the concern to county commissioners and to a group of their constituents east of Tierra Amarilla is Fort Worth, Texas-based Approach Resources Inc.'s plan to drill for oil in an 8- to 10-mile square area it has targeted about 3.5 miles east of Tierra Amarilla.

Approach Resources, which does not have a San Juan County office, leases 90,000 acres east of the Chama River and El Vado Reservoir. The area it has targeted is roughly bounded by New Mexico 112, U.S. 84 and U.S. 64, according to spokesman Curtis Henderson.

"We intend to drill shallow oil wells," Henderson said. "The formation is the Mancos Shale; our target is oil."

The company initially plans a minimum of eight 2,000- to 4,000-foot-deep wells to test the reservoir. If the wells prove out, Henderson said plans are to drill more, although he would not specify a maximum number.

Cattle rancher John Sena's 900 acres is ground zero for Approach Resources' plans and is home to at least two of the test well drilling sites.

Sena is not impressed by the company's choices.

"I figure the company is not taking into consideration the drainage and impacts on the natural environment," he said. "It looked like they went to the easiest places to drill."

One site is 250 yards from Tierra Amarilla Creek. Another would place its drilling pit atop an area Sena is reseeding for his cattle and for the elk hunting venture he operates. Runoff from both sites drains into El Vado Reservoir, from which the cities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque want to draw water.

"It brings in $40,000 to $60,000 of income per year," Sena said. "I've told them it will affect the elk migration, and their summer and winter feeding grounds, but they say that's not part of their compensation package."

The present situation started about four years ago when a real estate broker approached landowners with offers to buy their mineral rights. A survey conducted by Approach Resources followed the purchases, and the company picked its test well sites.

"The commission is not interested in hurting the oil and gas industry, but in protecting the natural features," said Rio Arriba County Manager Lorenzo J. Valdez. "We have 24 more days to talk to our attorneys, but the language says the moratorium is on any new development."

Added County Commissioner Alfredo Montoya, "Our department has taken exception with the BLM's practice of granting too many exceptions. This is the culmination of concerns that were raised to the level that the commission needed to look into."

But Henderson said the company is "surprised" and "doesn't understand the county's concerns."

"Thousands of wells have already been drilled in western Río Arriba County, but now we're hearing of a proposed moratorium," he said.

Approach Resources claims it is prepared to work as partners with landowners east of Tierra Amarilla. The targeted area, part of Tierra Amarilla Land Grant, is 22 miles from Carson National Forest land.

"New Mexico has the strongest protection for landowners," Henderson said. "We're afraid a county ordinance (moratorium) would conflict with that."

He referred to the Surface Owners Protection Act, passed into law March 8, 2007. Viewed to be among the nation's strongest landowner protection laws regarding oil and gas development, the act sets out strict parameters within which drilling companies must operate and protections for the surface landowners.

"We're reaching out to the county and to local operators," Henderson said. "We want to help inform the county."

Rio Arriba County commissioners plan to vote on the countywide drilling moratorium issue at their April 24 meeting.