SELECTION OF REFUGES 



Criteria for selection of refuges fell into four categories: institutional 

 and legal considerations, environmental aspects and system types, actual methods 

 used, and miscellaneous differences. A brief discussion of these categories 

 and a justification for selecting particular refuges follows. 



CRITERIA FOR SELECTION 



Institutional and Legal Considerations 



Several different circumstances of ownership or control of refuge minerals 

 exist on the Texas and Louisiana coasts. On most refuges, the surface rights 

 are owned by the Federal Government while various mineral interests are held 

 by another party. In some cases the other party may be an oil or gas corpora- 

 tion. More frequently, a person, estate, or land corporation holds a mineral 

 reservation and leases the right to develop minerals to an exploration company. 

 In a few cases, the mineral interests are owned by the government. 



Ownership is important since, to a large extent, it determines the control 

 (or perceived control) that the refuge system has over the development of oil 

 and gas. In the case where the government does not control the minerals, it 

 must grant access to the developer. At this point the situation becomes complex. 

 A series of Federal and State laws and regulations are applicable to oil and 

 gas development and to the auxiliary activities associated with development. 

 In addition, there are different perceptions of how much regulatory authority 

 the refuge system has over development. 



There are differences in mission, operation, and staffing of the refuges 

 under consideration. For instance, the Aransas NWR is intimately involved in 

 the protection of the whooping crane, a rare and endangered species. The Refuge 

 has a larger staff than most refuges because of its great popularity. Other 

 refuges are more remote and operate with smaller staffs. The monitoring of 

 petroleum activities is a function of the extent of activity, staff time avail- 

 able, and refuge size. 



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