Within the past decade, methane (i.e., a component of natural gas) extraction from water-saturated coal seams has become a significant source of U.S. domestic energy supplies. This process, now commonly referred to as coalbed methane (CBM) or coalbed natural gas extraction, has seen rapid development in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana in the past decade. Estimates of the amount of methane gas and the number of gas-producing wells in the Powder River Basin vary, depending on source and date of estimate. According to the U. S. Geological Survey, the amount of recoverable CBM from the Powder River Basin ranges from 8.24 to 22.42 trillion cubic feet of gas (USGS, 2001). The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission estimates 31 .8 trillion cubic feet of recoverable CBM in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming alone (WY Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 2002). The Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and the US. Department of Energy have separately estimated between 0.8 - 1.0 trillion cubic feet of recoverable CBM in the Powder River Basin of Montana. A January 2003 Environmental Impact Statement for coal bed methane development in the Powder River Basin of Montana, jointly prepared by the US. Department of lnterior-Bureau of Land Management and the state of Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Board of Oil and Gas Conservation reports 2.5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas within the Powder River Basin.