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OCATE — Oil and natural gas companies have their eye on eastern Mora County, but first they'll have to deal with residents who, unlike many New Mexicans, own the mineral rights on their land.

Some Mora County residents began receiving letters a few months regarding their mineral rights.

At a recent meeting at the Ocate Community Center, landman Knute Lee Jr. made a pitch to residents to lease their oil and gas mineral rights through his Albuquerque company, KHL Inc.

"Many were interested in how the royalty and rental system works. The rest were quiet but not very welcoming," said Ojo Feliz resident Rose Josefa. "I didn't get the sense that people were jumping up and down over his offer."

Eastern Mora County is the latest area in New Mexico where landmen such as Lee, who negotiate mineral leases for oil and gas companies, are looking. Like residents in the Galisteo Basin south of Santa Fe who are concerned over drilling plans by Tecton Energy, some Ojo Feliz and Ocate residents are gearing up to fight plans for oil and gas pumping in their area.

But unlike the Galisteo Basin, many landowners in Mora County also own their mineral rights. New Mexico is under a split estate system, which considers mineral rights and the property rights above them to be distinct. Those rights can be sold or leased separately.

Lee isn't sure what the companies he works with would find in highly rural eastern Mora County. Maybe oil, maybe gas.

"We'll take whichever one we find," he said. "We don't know what's there until it's drilled."

Ojo Feliz rancher Jose Emilio Valdez, 78, signed a 10-year lease for his mineral rights with KHL Inc. in October. The lease included a one-eighth share of the royalties from any hydrocarbons produced off his 450 acres.

Valdez, who was born and raised in the area, said he doesn't see anything wrong with leasing the minerals. That will allow him to leave his six children, 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren better off, he said.

"Each individual has the right to decide what they do with their property, including their mineral rights," he said.

William Michael Edwards, who owns 220 acres in Ocate, sees things differently.

Edwards retired four years ago after working for three decades for Shell Chemical Co. in Louisiana. He said Baton Rouge, where he lived, is rife with problems from longtime oil and gas production.

"They don't call it `Cancer Alley' for nothing," he said.

It makes no difference what Lee or any other landman offers, Edwards said, "I won't lease."

Lee contends new technology and know-how allows companies to drill for hydrocarbons while protecting the environment and the communities.

"We can make it so that we leave an incredibly small footprint," he said.

Mora County planning and zoning director Rumaldo Pino said he has been fielding more than a dozen calls a day from residents concerned about the potential for drilling.

The county doesn't have an ordinance specific to gas and oil drilling but does have protections for wells and water supplies written into its development code, Pino said. The code prohibits mining and other activities within a 1,000-foot radius of a water well and prohibits activities that would contaminate water supplies.

Josefa only recently learned she owned the mineral rights on her 22 acres but said she's not interested in leasing them. She said she'll fight any plans to drill in the area.

"It may be an uphill battle, but it's worth it," she said.