This week, Ultra Resources confirmed that the company had purchased 18,000 acres of the Banning Lewis Ranch for $20 million. With the sale now complete, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the City of Colorado Springs will need to determine whether the city land-use agreements related to the city’s 1988 annexation of the ranch should remain intact.

Confirming the purchase of the ranch, an Ultra spokeswoman said that the company expects to drill for oil and natural gas on the ranch. And it appears that the Banning Lewis deal may be just one part of Ultra’s plans for drilling in the area, as the company paid $1.67 million in July and August to Denver-based Pine Ridge Oil & Gas for leases on nearly 100,000 acres of land in eastern El Paso County and an exploratory well east of Fountain.

According to Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach, the sale of most of Banning Lewis Ranch to Ultra means “there is a real possibility that the Banning Lewis Ranch will not be built into residential and commercial neighborhoods as previously expected.”

In a statement, Colorado Springs City Attorney Chris Melcher said that the city will continue negotiations with Ultra “to reach a satisfactory resolution of the annexation issues, but if that effort is not successful the city intends to seek enforcement of all rights and responsibilities under the agreement in the Colorado bankruptcy court of Colorado state court.”

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There’s an old saying: “It’s not news until it runs in the Times.” Thanks to this story, natural gas has officially become America’s energy darling.

Huge shales beds that have been long overlooked are now or will soon generate enormous incomes for producers, taxing entities, and of course landowners. Not only are black or brown shales found in 23 states, but the energy they produce, or more specifically, their emissions, are cleaner than either coal or oil. This is a development that will effect tens of thousands of landowners in all sections of the country, and the writer details the possibilities in an effective, enjoyable read. (Full disclosure: I have been writing for The Times since 1996.)

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That is precisely the question that Fred Mackerodt will be looking at in an upcoming article for the Land Report. Fred is a big believer in exploring the time & distance continuum as it relates to buying property. Is the right piece of property really right for you if its too far away to enjoy regularly and conveniently? Very tricky question. Just because a piece of property is too far away for a quick weekend drive doesn’t mean it’s not an ideal investment parcel. The perfect place to build a second home can still be in the next state or even the next time zone.

If anything, in my opinion, rising fuel costs are going to make Americans more judicious in the way we consume energy. Sounds like it already has.

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Consider this: If every kernel of corn and if every single soy bean produced by American farmers were converted into ethanol, it would account for just 20 percent of the country’s on-road fuel consumption. That’s one of many eye-opening conclusions in Michael Grunwald’s lucid account. Ethanol is not the answer to our national woes. It is one of many answers on a long list of energy sources that are presently underutilized, including natural gas, coal-to-liquids, wind power, solar power, and nuclear power.

Parting Thought? It’s all about the land, isn’t it?

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