The Southern Ute Indian Tribe is methodically unraveling the mystery of the coal-bed methane gas seeps that has so far eluded government and energy company officials in La Plata County. "The seeps had been there forever," said Bob Zahradnik, operating director of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund. "Our concern was (that we might be) accelerating them because of coal methane gas production, and that's why we've been watching it." The Southern Ute tribe has been a major player in the gas development business since the early 1990s. Their reservation sits on a large pool of coal-bed methane gas in the San Juan River Basin.

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