Quote Originally Posted by Grant H. View Post
I have to ask...

Can you explain your comment about mineral rights owners usurping surface owners? The connotation of what you wrote is extremely misleading, and I figure I better ask what you mean before I ramble on about how that whole relationship actually works.
Mineral owners can come onto a property and exercise their rights to extract minerals. I am no expert on this and do not know the details or procedures. Look at the oil/gas exploration in Weld and Larimer counties. It is common for land to be sold without the mineral rights intact.