Exhibit 31.1                     CERTIFICATIONS
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I, Brent M. Cook, certify that:

1.     I have reviewed this Report on Form 10-Q of High Plains Gas, Inc. (the
"Company") for the period ending March 31, 2011;

2.     Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were
made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.     Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of,
and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.     I am responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

     (a)  designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
          disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
          supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
          Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
          by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
          which this report is being prepared;

     (b)  designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
          such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
          our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
          reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
          statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
          accounting principles;

     (c)  evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and
          procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     (d)  disclosed in this report any change in the Company's internal control
          over financial reporting that occurred during the Company's most
          recent fiscal quarter (the Company's fourth fiscal quarter in the case
          of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
          likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over
          financial reporting.

5.     I have disclosed, based on my most recent evaluation of internal control
over financial reporting, to the Company's auditors and the audit committee of
the Company's Board of Directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):

     (a)  all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
          operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
          reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company's ability to record,
          process, summarize and report financial information; and

     (b)  any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant role in the Company's internal
          control over financial reporting.

                                        Date: May 16, 2011

                                        By:     \s\ Brent M. Cook
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                                        Brent M. Cook, Chief Executive Officer

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