r w kennedy, no apology required, but thank you for the gesture. I do understand the desire to respond. I agree that profanity cheapens the argument. For what it is worth, I love talking politics. I just prefer to keep it out of other discourse.
Your comments reflect my suspicion about the number of mineral rights owners. I believe that the number is far higher than most people assume. Getting an accurate answer is as Adam suggested: nearly impossible short of visiting every county seat in the country. Perhaps, though, there is a some way to gather this info without spending five years in a car. 