The Collier family, namesake of the Southwest Florida county, has filed plans to explore an area between two small existing oil fields with small detonations. The family retained and many other property owners retained mineral rights when they sold the land to the government.

In 2003, the Colliers laid out a plan to dramatically expand drilling in the refuge, which sportsmen, some environmentalists and eventually Congress dismissed as a red herring. Still, in 2003, the Bush Administration offered the Colliers $120 million. But Congress killed the deal, saying that the Colliers were just trying to up the ante on the value of their mineral rights.

This time, the Colliers say they are serious about further exploration, and that they are working with agencies to insure the blasting is done in an ecologically sensitive way. Sportsmen and environmental advocates won’t be able to review the proposal until a 30-day internal review is undertaken by the agencies.

But some are concerned that the project is yet another red herring, timed exquisitely with record-high fuel prices. Sportsmen are concerned that the public will get locked out, because the public isn’t allowed to use oil roads, and it is both ecological undesirable and unlikely the agencies would allow more road building.