By Lisa Arrowsmith, THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON - A group that hopes to challenge the Alberta government’s ownership of coalbed methane deposits has a "Herculean" task ahead of it, says the chairman of another group that has been battling power transmission lines in the province.

Angry landowners, who believe they have a personal claim to some of the estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of coalbed methane in Alberta, are organizing themselves and promoting the need for a legal battle to settle the thorny question.

The fledgling United Landowners of Alberta argues that landowners, and not the provincial government, should be able to exploit the coalbed methane deposits on their land, or have the right to say no to developing such resources.

It argues that coalbed methane is an organic-based process, and is therefore a renewable resource and not subject to current energy legislation - an argument provincial officials dismiss.

Joe Anglin is the chairman of another landowners group which has been waging a separate David and Goliath-type fight against the construction of power transmission lines.

He said Thursday that while there is a tough road ahead for the coalbed methane group, it’s still a worthwhile fight.

"We drew the line in the sand. We were never against transmission lines, we were just being trampled on and our rights were being trampled on," Anglin said.

"I fully support them taking that same attitude."

Anglin’s group led a successful challenge last year of a proposed power transmission line between Edmonton and Calgary.

Glenn Norman, who farms east of Bowden, Alta., and is one of the organizers behind the fledgling landowners group, said determining the ownership of coalbed methane deposits could provide direct economic benefits to landowners or give them the power to stop development altogether.

"It allows farmers to say, ’no, go away, don’t bother me. This is too much of a threat to my aquifer, this is too much of an intrusion upon my land,"’ he said.

A successful legal challenge could also allow landowners to tap into what could be a lucrative new source of revenue, especially for rural communities.

"It’s win-win for everybody - for the landowners who will suddenly have a new source of income for those who choose it," said Norman.

"For the community at large there will be a massive amount more spending, for the government there will be a huge pool of revenue from taxes that will far exceed what they’re gaining from this resource," he added.

Landowners and farmers are having their rights violated, said Anglin, as large companies move to either exploit the resources underneath their land, or build projects on the surface.

"It’s time we drew a line in the sand. It’s time that we stood our ground and said we will give no more," he said.

Jason Chance, a spokesman for the provincial government, said that all Albertans, not just landowners, own the rights to resources and for good reason.

"The benefits of energy development extend to all Albertans and that is the basis of the Crown ownership of mineral rights," he said.

"The development of Alberta’s energy resources are a key part of the economy. It’s what reaps benefits in terms of economic development, investment in communities and jobs for Albertans," he said.

The provincial government has also tried to balance the needs of landowners with the demands of energy development, by making changes to energy regulation and developing new land-use policies, Chance said.

A spokesman for a key industry group, the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas, said they’re watching this issue with "considerable interest."

Companies have purchased mineral rights from the provincial government, based on its ownership of natural gas, regardless of how it was formed, said society vice-president Kevin Heffernan.

But he acknowledges that the energy boom in Alberta has created some stress.

"There has been a lot of industry activity, so I can appreciate that landowners in some areas are feeling stressed by the number of wells that have been drilled in recent years," he said.

An appropriate balance between those who own the surface rights, and those who own the mineral rights underneath has been achieved in most areas of the province, Heffernan said.

"At the same time, industry is well aware that when we go in to develop an area, we do create a disturbance which does have an impact of the owners of the surface rights," Heffernan said.