Impact of Pipelines & Power Lines to Ranch Lands

Texans love their private property rights. It’s a toss up who loves Texas private property rights more: Libertarians? Republicans? Ranchers? Cattlemen?Farmers ?Wild Life enthusiasts?

This month’s issue of The Cattleman looks at easements for pipelines and power lines. They run through pros and cons, and here they are:

Pros of Pipelines and Power Lines Running Through Pastures:

• “don’t expect the value of ranchland to decrease drastically based on added pipeline or high voltage power lines on the land.”
• ” rural land real estate brokers see the demand for ranchland as being higher than ever.”

The Cons of Pipelines and Power Lines Running Through Pastures:

• legal headaches
• “worries that too many people may traipse across a prize pasture to patrol a pipeline meter”
• Harm to value of land due to excessive obstructions
• Harm to value of land if royalty or easement lease rights don’t come with the property
• Harm to value of land if “energy companies cause damages outside the agreed easement “
• Value “damage outside the easement could approach up to 25 percent of the ranch value.”
• “red tape when it comes to buying ranchland with pipeline, power line and, more recently, wind turbine easements.”

The Cattleman