Free Dinosaur Breakout by Judith Silverthorne Page B

they only owned the surface, not the mines and minerals below! Daniel still couldn’t believe it.
    “Tell me again how that could have worked about us being forced to give our land over for mineral rights,” he said.
    “Your family didn’t have to, Daniel, because your great-grandfather homesteaded it and owned those rights. They were printed right on his land title papers. Even so, your parents could have signed them over if they’d wanted to, but because we’d proved there were heritage prospects in the form of fossils on the land, they chose not to.”
    “Okay, but what happened to Jed’s family? How come they had to fight against the testing?”
    Patiently, Pederson explained. “They didn’t own the rights in the first place, but they can refuse to allow the oil companies on their property, which they did, because they wanted to preserve the land, as you know.” Pederson looked over at him and smiled in a conspiratorial way. “They have some crazy idea that they might have dinosaur fossils on their property too.”
    Daniel grinned.
    Pederson looked back at the road and continued his main explanation. “Then the decision goes to arbitration, which means a group of people act like a jury and discuss the situation. They make the decision as to whether or not the companies get to drill.”
    “It seemed to me they had to talk to a lot of important people.” Daniel noted.
    “Yes, the Conservation Data Centre, the Heritage Resource Impact people, and the Saskatchewan Environ-ment and Resource Management team is contacted and are all brought into the discussion.”
    Daniel said, “Okay, I think I understand now. Basically, the area is scanned for endangered plants and animals, and for archaeological and environmental aspects, before anything can happen?”
    “You’ve got it! If any of those areas are at risk because of the seismic testing and future drilling, then it’s not likely going to happen,” Pederson explained. “If there’s a good reason, such as some sort of heritage element – an important burial ground or foundations of special old buildings, paleontology possibilities, or something along that line, then they can be excused.”
    “So, because Jed’s family didn’t have anything like that, they had to let the testing be done?” Daniel asked.
    “Exactly. The pumpjacks will go in later this month. They’ll be paid for the use of the land as well as an annual rental for the right to drill and produce wells on their land. It won’t make them rich, but it will help out.”
    “So maybe Jed’s dad won’t have to go to the city to work this winter?”
    “Maybe not,” Pederson acknowledged, keeping his eyes on the road.
    “Cool. Jed hates it when his father’s gone. He’s in a houseful of bossy girls!”
    Daniel and Pederson laughed.
    “I don’t think it’s necessarily because they’re girls!” Pederson said. “I know a few bossy boys too!” Pederson gave him a significant look, remembering how Daniel had saved him in the snowstorm two winters before.
    A few minutes later, Daniel asked, “What would have happened, say, if my parents had said yes?”
    “If oil had been found, they would have received a royalty payment based on the production of the well or wells. Maybe something like $2,000 each a year for the rental on the surface leases. They’d get an additional amount, which would fluctuate according to oil prices. So depending on how many wells they had and how long they ran for, they could have made a tidy sum over the years.”
    Yikes, Daniel hadn’t realized that! They might have been almost rich! He wondered how his parents felt about that. A sudden sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach like a chunk of apple he hadn’t chewed properly. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so insistent about them not signing the papers. But what good would the money have done, if the fossil history had been destroyed? He twisted and turned these new thoughts over in his mind. No wonder