Court gives green light to ex-landowner's effort to retain mineral rights

— A lawsuit over who owns the rights to explore and produce minerals on thousands of acres purchased by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission can proceed, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.

The Arkansas Supreme Court rejected the commission's motion to stop a lawsuit over 4,146 acres purchased in Prairie and White counties from the Morrison family.

The Morrisons argued in a lawsuit filed in White County that they were told when they negotiated with the panel to sell the land that they would retain their mineral rights over the property. The commission purchased the land through the Wetlands America Trust Inc. in 2000.

Family members learned in 2005 that the deed issued didn't give them mineral rights over the property sold, according to a brief filed with the court.

In February, a circuit judge denied the commission's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

In their opinion Thursday, justices rejected the state's argument that a five-year statute of limitations had expired and denied the commission's writ of prohibition. The ruling, however, said the state is free to appeal the decision once a final order is entered in the lawsuit by the lower court.

The commission owns almost 100,000 acres in the Fayetteville Shale natural gas formation. Its director said last year the agency was accepting proposals for mineral exploration and production on 17 commission-owned lands.

Commission Director Scott Henderson said in November that the commission could gain between $3 million and $4 million from signing leases for the shale.

An opinion issued by the attorney general's office last year said that money earned from the sale of that production on commission-owned lands can be used only for wildlife purposes, not health or education.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/29/2007

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