The wooded Matanuska-Susitna valleys of Alaska and Kachemak Bay are a long way from Wyoming's Powder River Basin, but residents from both areas are finding some common ground.

Natural gas companies are probing Alaska's shallow coals to test whether or not the methane gas contained in coal beds there can be produced commercially. Coalbed methane gas production has proven to be a commercial success in northeastern Wyoming. And that commercial success is part of what worries landowners in Alaska.

The state of Alaska owns approximately 25 percent of the mineral subsurface, and that's exactly where companies have been testing the viability of the coals for methane production. And unlike the Powder River Basin, most landowners do not own right to the minerals under their lands. This puts them in the same boat as split estate owners in Wyoming.

That's one reason why many residents and landowner groups in Alaska are calling on Wyoming residents to find out how they can have the benefits of the development without the headaches that can accompany it.

"We've seen photos of what's going on down in Wyoming and in the Powder River Basin," said Nina Faust, an Alaskan landowner and member of the Kachemak Bay Property Owners Alliance. "Frankly, we're just appalled at the really devastating environmental effects of putting in spiderwebs of roads and pipelines and drilling pads and compressor stations."

"We don't have this kind of industrial development in the Homer area," Faust continued. "We know that, looking at what happened in the Powder River Basin and other areas, that it would irrevocably change the kind of area that Homer is."

Gillette businessman and landowner Phil Hoy traveled to Alaska in October to take part in a workshop with residents concerned about the potential development in Alaska. He was one of at least two people from the Powder River Basin Resource Council to make the trip.

Hoy said he is engaged in an ongoing battle with the industry and the state of Wyoming over flooding problems on his property north of Gillette due lapses in regulations regarding coalbed methane water discharges. Hoy said his message to folks in Alaska wasn't to fight to block the industry. It was to insist that property rights are not lost to the development.

"We're not against coalbed methane development," Hoy said in a recent interview. "We're all for it. But it needs to be done with regulation and good communications between landowners and industry so problems don't occur."

For his own part, Hoy owns a welding business in Gillette and gets a lot of work from coalbed methane companies. He also owns a trailer park that is home to many coalbed methane workers. Hoy believes it is a lack of regulatory responsibility that sometimes leaves residents and the industry at odds and both sides deserve a more clear set of rules and protections.

"We're not a bunch of tree-huggers," Hoy added. "The state needs to make regulations to get us out of all this political wrangling we're in so we can all benefit from the development without losing our property rights."

Kachemak Bay has excellent halibut fishing and the annual Shorebird Festival. It is a heavily wooded area; the perfect Alaskan postcard that entices hunters, fishermen and wilderness lovers from all over the world.

Faust said though Alaskans are accustomed to oil and gas development, it doesn't usually take place near communities, as some coalbed methane gas projects could. Faust said the state leased its coalbed methane gas reserves below her property and below many of her neighbors.

"Alaska could have as much coalbed methane as the rest of the country combined. So for us, it's about making sure that if we want to move forward we do it right," said Kelly Hill Scanlon, coordinator for the Northern Alaska Conservation Alliance.

"People are excited about the possibility of developing coalbed methane, but they didn't realize the water issues that can come with it," Scanlon said.