Mining Claims Despite restrictions in most park enabling statutes, the solicitor previously advised the Park Service that owners of valid unpatented mining claims had the right to patent their claims in parks. An unpatented mining claim is a right established under the 1872 Mining Law by which the owner may extract the minerals and use, but not own, the surface. The patenting process allows claimants to obtain title to the surface and minerals of their claims. Such owners can develop their claims in a manner that creates long-term, conflicting uses in parks.
Spurred by recent federal court decisions, the solicitor reexamined the 1872 Mining Law and issued two opinions that significantly reduce the eligibility of claimants to patent their claims on withdrawn lands like parks. On such lands, patents may only be obtained if the secretary determines that a claimant complied fully with the patenting requirements of the 1872 Mining Law by the date of withdrawal, generally the date of park establishment. These requirements include fees, a survey, paperwork, and the discovery of a valuable mineral deposit as determined through a validity exam. If claimants fail any requirement, they are ineligible for a patent but still may be able to mine subject to NPS regulations. The solicitor’s new direction is significant and should reduce the number of future patents in parks.
The third opinion states that claimants may only hold and patent one mill site consisting of 5 acres per associated mining claim. A mill site is an area that is nonmineral in character where claimants typically site support facilities. In reviewing claim records, the solicitor became aware that claimants possessed far more mill-site acreage than allowed under the 1872 Mining Law. For example, at Mojave National Preserve in California, a claimant submitted a proposed plan covering two unpatented mining claims and 18 mill sites for NPS approval. Under the solicitor opinion, the claimant is entitled only to two mill sites. Thus, this opinion also enhances park protection by clarifying the property rights of claimants.
External Development As part of the secretary’s deliberation on prospecting permit applications for lead in the Mark Twain National Forest adjacent to Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri, the solicitor prepared an options paper dated 16 April 1998. The solicitor makes clear that, in the administrative record, the secretary must carefully account for potential impacts to park resources from external activities within the Department of the Interior’s domain. While the solicitor does not conclude that the secretary must place park protection considerations above all others, this is a very positive step toward applying the 1978 Redwoods Amendment to the Organic Act beyond park boundaries.
julia_f_brunner@nps.gov
Policy and Regulatory Specialist, Geologic Resources Division; Natural Resource Program Center, Lakewood, Colorado
carol_mccoy@nps.gov
Chief, Policy and Regulations Branch, Geologic Resources Division; Natural Resource Program Center, Lakewood, Colorado
Back to Chapter 6: New Horizons
President mandates coral reef protection
by James Tilmant
Feral burro removal: New solutions to an old problem
by Christopher J. Stubbs
Doppler technology applied to large-river studies
by Brian L. Cluer
Natural resource information tools make their way to the web
by Jen Coffey
Congress places a positive imprint on park management
by Mike Soukup
Research and collecting permit procedures revised
by Robert Winfree
Fee demonstration funds bolster natural resource protection
by Abigail Miller