A trio of insufferable scientific investigators go to the desert. They have some excuse for being there. In their hunting around, they are warned about a killer tree that has caused the deaths of people. The woman in the group talks them into investigating the tree and in the process, almost gets them killed. There is an old desert rat who has a fixation on this tree and he tries to file a claim on the property. You see, at night, methane begins to escape, nearly asphyxiating one of them (who lay down with a cigarette next to the natural gas leak). Anyway, it doesn't take long for the petroleum industry to head in to take the land away from the old guy. He forgot to properly file a claim anyway so it doesn't matter. Generally pretty dull stuff.
