Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 4:32 PM
To: George R. Frantz AICP;
Subject: FW: The [Natural Gas Drilling] Landman Report Card
FYI
MIT, in association with OGAP, has just launched a new interactive website
where individuals can issue a report card on their experience with landmen.
The site is at
http://www.landmanreportcard.com/
Here is the press release:
MIT's Center for Future Civic Media <http://civic.mit.edu> , where researchers
develop novel technologies for communities, has launched the Landman Report
Card, an easy-to-use web-based resource that helps landowners educate and
assist each other as they negotiate drilling rights with oil and gas company
representatives.
Chris Csikszentmihályi, Director of the Center for Future Civic Media, said,
“There’s a real need for this kind of information. Recent findings in New York
State and Wyoming indicate that the impacts of natural gas mining are profound
and lasting, and we are just starting to learn about the long-term effects of
hydraulic fracturing on human health, property, and the environment. An army
of ‘landmen’, whose job is to get the best terms for the companies they
represent, are now combing many parts of the U.S. Landowners often feel
pressured to sign away their mineral rights immediately, even though an
agreement could have long-lasting effects on their health, property, and
community. Landowners need time and information to make a good decision.”
Landman Report Card allows users to submit reports about individual landmen and
their companies, browse report cards submitted by other users, contact other
users, and use the site as their own private diary of interactions with this
industry. The site also provides links to information about best practices for
land professionals, information about the gas leasing process, and information
to help landowners prepare for a visit from a landman.
“Knowledge is key”, says Csikszentmihályi. “Landman Report Card gives citizens
in mineral-rich areas of the country a way to learn about the professional
negotiators knocking on their doors. A decision to sign a lease — or not — can
change a family’s life and their community, so the more people know about
landmen and their business practices the better prepared they can be to
negotiate. We have found that landowners in a community where drilling is just
starting are often very surprised to read about the experiences of people who
have been living with drilling for decades.”
Landman Report Card (www.landmanreportcard.com
<http://www.landmanreportcard.com> ) was produced in collaboration with
citizens' alliances in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania,
Ohio and West Virginia as well as the EARTHWORKS Oil and Gas Accountability
Project.
About the Center for Future Civic Media
The Center for Future Civic Media at MIT develops new technologies and social
systems for sharing, prioritizing, organizing, and acting on information. The
Center supports and fosters civic media and political action; serves as an
international resource for the study and analysis of civic media; and
coordinates community-based test beds both in the United States and
internationally.
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