If the oil & gas rights on >1,100 acres were sold at auction for only $2,500...that suggests that (at least in the minds of the other bidders) there is d*mned little worth the effort of trying to extract there, to generate any "greater good for society".

So why not let the tree-huggers buy up leases on a bunch of neigh-worthless land? Far better than them spending their money on lawyers, to sue real oil & gas companies over the real wells that they're busy drilling & running in worthwhile locations.

/conservative viewpoint