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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES -OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, John L. Schwager, certify that:

1.     I have reviewed this report on Form 10-Q of Belden & Blake Corporation;

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 registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.     The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
       establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
       defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)), 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
              registrant, 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) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant'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

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

5.     The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
       our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
       to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant'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 registrant'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 registrant's
              internal control over financial reporting.

Date: November 10, 2003                    /s/ John L. Schwager
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           John L. Schwager, Director, President
                                           and Chief Executive Officer

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