After years of calling for it privately, Barnes Hauptfuhrer decided that early 2017 was finally time to go public with his desire to see a makeover of America’s hottest natural gas play. On Tuesday, the 62-year-old sent a 10-page open letter to the board of EQT Corp., urging the gas explorer to merge with either Range Resources Corp. or Antero Resources Corp. That prompted Range to put out a statement saying it hadn’t been contacted by EQT about a potential deal and that it had no plans to hold talks.