>>103021You are correct.
There are large areas in the midwest USA where it is all public land. However, those places are being taken over by natural gas companies who drill 1,000s of wells everywhere.
This is an actual photo of some public land with the wells on it and an article about a the problem,
http://ecowatch.com/2012/natural-gas-from-federal-lands-hits-reported-record-high/