Source: http://americanmininglawforum.myfastforum.org/sutra1849.php
Timestamp: 2017-06-25 05:22:57
Document Index: 583730710

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 612', '§ 612', '§ 612', '§ 251', '§ 21', '§ 3712', '§ 315', '§ 613', '§ 612', '§ 613', '§ 612', '§ 612', '§ 612']

americanmininglawforum.myfastforum.org :: 1955 Multiple Use Act USA vs Curtis-Nevada Mines
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:02 pm Post subject: 1955 Multiple Use Act USA vs Curtis-Nevada Mines
Share 611 F.2d 1277
CURTIS-NEVADA MINES, INC., and Robert Curtis, Defendants-Appellees.
Rights under any mining claim hereafter located under the mining laws of the United States shall be subject, prior to issuance of patent therefor, to the right of the United States to manage and dispose of the vegetative surface resources thereof and to manage other surface resources thereof [/color[color=red]]*****(except mineral deposits subject to location under the mining laws of the United States).***** Any such mining claim shall also be subject, prior to issuance of patent therefor, to the right of the United States, its permittees, and licensees, to use so much of the surface thereof as may be necessary for such purposes or for access to adjacent land: Provided, however, That any use of the surface of any such mining claim by the United States, its permittees or licensees, shall be such as not to endanger or materially interfere with prospecting, mining or processing operations or uses reasonably incident thereto . . . .10
This language, carefully developed, emphasizes the committee's insistence that this legislation not have the effect of modifying long-standing essential rights springing from location of a mining claim. Dominant and primary use of the locations hereafter made, as in the past, would be vested first in the locator; the United States would be authorized to manage and dispose of surface resources, or to use the surface for access to adjacent lands, so long as and to the extent that these activities do not endanger or materially interfere with mining, or related operations or activities on the mining claim.
The alternative chosen by Congress was to limit the exclusive possession of mining claimants so as to permit the multiple use of the surface resources of the claims prior to the patenting of the claims, so long as that use did not materially interfere with prospecting or mining operations.
In the district court proceedings Curtis asserted that recreational uses are not encompassed within the meaning of "other surface resources" in § 612(b). However, as the district court properly held, the phrase "other surface resources" was clearly intended to include recreational uses. It is apparent from the previously quoted portions of House Report 730 at 6, as well as committee hearings cited by the district court, 415 F.Supp. at 1378, that recreation was one of the "other surface resources" to which 30 U.S.C. § 612(b) refers. [color=blue]This conclusion is further buttressed by the Bureau of Land Management regulations implementing the Multiple Use Act.5 It is therefore a surface resource that the United States has a right to manage and that the United States and its permittees and licensees have a right to use so long as the use does not "endanger or materially interfere with prospecting, mining or processing operations or uses reasonably incident thereto." 30 U.S[/color].C. § 612(b).
The remaining question that the district court addressed concerns the identification of the "permittees and licensees" of the United States entitled to use the surface resources. The district court held that the "permittees and licensees" are only those who have specific written permits or licenses from any state or federal agency allowing those persons to engage in any form of recreation on public land. The court mentions hunting, fishing or camping permits as illustrative of the required permits. It is at this point that we disagree with the district court.36
Historically the United States has managed the lands within the public domain as fee owner and trustee for the people of the United States. Light v. United States, 220 U.S. 523, 527, 31 S.Ct. 485, 55 L.Ed. 570 (1911); Camfield v. United States, 167 U.S. 518, 524, 17 S.Ct. 864, 42 L.Ed. 260 (1897). [color=blue]Also, in the management of public lands, the United States has historically allowed the general public to use the public domain for recreation and other purposes, and often without a specific, formal permit. Such access has been described as an implied [/color]license.
Originally, grazing of livestock was such a use that was allowed without a formal permit.6 In Buford v. Houtz, 133 U.S. 320, 10 S.Ct. 305, 33 L.Ed. 618 (1890), the Supreme Court found an implied license to graze livestock on the public lands and acquiescence in the practice by the government as proprietor of the public lands:
We are of opinion that there is an implied license, growing out of the custom of nearly a hundred years, that the public lands of the United States . . . shall be free to the people who seek to use them where they are left open and unenclosed, and no act of government forbids this use. . . . The government of the United States, in all its branches, has known of this use, has never forbidden it, nor taken any steps to arrest it.39
Id. at 326, 10 S.Ct. at 307.
This principle of an implied license of the public to use lands within the public domain freely without a formal license was again reaffirmed by the court in Light v. United States :
At common law the owner was required to confine his livestock, or else was held liable for any damage done by them upon the land of third persons. That law was not adapted to the situation of those states where there were great plains and vast tracts of unenclosed land, suitable for pasture. And so, without passing a statute, or taking any affirmative action on the subject, the United States suffered its public domain to be used for such purposes. There thus grew up a sort of implied license that these lands, thus left open, might be used so long as the Government did not cancel its tacit consent.
220 U.S. at 535, 31 S.Ct. at 487.
In McKee v. Gratz, 260 U.S. 127, 43 S.Ct. 16, 67 L.Ed. 167 (1922), the Court applied this concept of an implied license to include a license to use large tracts of uncultivated lands for recreational uses. Mr. Justice Holmes in the opinion of the Court stated:
The strict rule of the English common law as to entry upon a close must be taken to be mitigated by common understanding with regard to the large expanses of unenclosed and uncultivated land in many parts at least of this country. Over these it is customary to wander, shoot and fish at will until the owner sees fit to prohibit it. A license may be implied from the habits of the country.
Id. at 136, 43 S.Ct. at 17.
The historical principle that no formal permission, permit, or license is required for use of public lands for general recreational use or access to adjoining lands was formalized by the Forest Service with regard to National Forests in 1942 when it enacted a regulation which states in pertinent part:
The temporary use or occupancy of national forest lands by individuals for camping, picnicking, hiking, fishing, hunting, riding, boating, parking of vehicles and similar purposes may be allowed without a special use permit; provided . . . that permits may be required for such uses when in the judgment of the Chief of the Forest Service the public interest or the protection of such lands requires the issuance of permits.
36 CFR § 251.1(a)(2) (1979).
A similar policy of holding public lands open for recreational use has been followed by the Bureau of Land Management in its administration of the 457 million acres of public lands not set aside for national forests, parks or other special uses. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, Camping on the Public Lands; see also Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 301, Outdoor Recreation In the National Forests 11 (1965).
These regulations confirm a traditional policy for the use of public lands allowing the public to use lands within the public domain for general recreational purposes without holding a written, formal permit, except as to activities which have been specifically regulated.51
The Multiple Use Act was designed to open up the public domain to greater, more varied uses. To require that anyone desiring to use claimed lands for recreation must obtain a formal, written license would greatly restrict and inhibit the use of a major portion of the public domain.7 It is doubtful that Congress would intend that such use be dependent upon a formal permit, because the federal agencies do not generally issue or require permits for recreational use of public lands. To require a formal written permit would either put the public in a position of having to obtain permits but having no place from which to obtain them, or it would require the government to institute procedures to issue permits, a process which the government argues is burdensome and unnecessary.
One of the clear purposes of the 1955 legislation was to prevent the withdrawal of surface resources from other public use merely by locating a mining claim. The inertia of the situation was previously with the mining claimant who retained exclusive possession of the surface of the claim until the location was invalidated by affirmative action. As to claims located after the 1955 legislation, however, the inertia works the other way. Essentially, the surface resources remain in the public domain for use as before with the exception that the mining claimant is entitled to use the surface resources for prospecting and mining purposes and that the other uses by the general public cannot materially interfere with the prospecting and mining operation. Thus, the vast acreage upon which mining claims have been located since 1955 or claims which, by operation of the statute, have become subject to the provisions of section 612(b), remain open for public use except for the restrictions imposed where actual mining or prospecting operations are taking place.8
The district judge's conclusion that the "permittees and licensees" designated in section 612(b) are only those possessing written permits from a state or federal agency appears to be based largely upon a question and subsequent statement of Senator Bible at the committee hearing. See Curtis, 415 F.Supp. at 1378. The Senator asked whether a fisherman with a fishing license issued by either a state or federal agency could enter an unpatented mining claim that had a "No Trespassing" sign on it. He then stated:
"The only purpose of my question was to determine . . . if . . . Section 4 did permit the fisherman to go to the stream under those circumstances. I understand (the) answer to be yes."
Id. Our review of the hearing and the statement of Senator Bible leads us to the conclusion that the question and statement were illustrative and was intended to confirm the right of a member of the general public to utilize the "other surface resources" of an unpatented mining claim for recreation. Senator Bible's question was not addressed to what requisites were necessary to constitute a "permittee," but rather to assure that recreational uses would be allowed on unpatented mining claims.9
Consequently, in light of the historical background of the use of the public domain for many purposes without express written permits or licenses we do not find in the legislative history of the 1955 act an intent to so limit the meaning of "permittees and licensees." Most assuredly, the B.L.M. or the Forest Service can require permits for public use of federal lands in their management of federal lands; however, they need not do so as a prerequisite to public use of surface resources of unpatented mining claims.
It should be noted that mining claimants have at least two remedies in the event that public use interferes with prospecting or mining activities. Section 612(b) provides that "any use of the surface . . . shall be such as not to endanger or materially interfere with prospecting, mining or processing operations or uses reasonably incident thereto." The mining claimant can protest to the managing federal agency about public use which results in material interference and, if unsatisfied, can bring suit to enjoin the activity. Secondly, a claimant with a valid claim can apply for a patent which, when granted, would convey fee title to the property.
In the present case, appellees have not presented any evidence that the public use of land included within their unpatented mining claim has "materially interfered" with any mining activity. Absent such evidence, section 612(b) applies in this case to afford the general public a right of free access to the land on which the mining claims have been located for recreational use of the surface resources and for access to adjoining property. Therefore, we reverse the portion of the judgment that requires specific written permits or licenses for entry onto the mining claims, and we remand this case to the district court for entry of an injunction consistent with the views expressed in this opinion.
Hon. William H. Orrick, Jr., District Judge for the Northern District of California, sitting by designation
When a statute is ambiguous, reports of committees of the Congress may be used as an aid to ascertaining the purpose of Congress in passing the statute. Comm'r v. Bilder, 369 U.S. 499, 82 S.Ct. 881, 8 L.Ed.2d 65 (1962); NLRB v. Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., 388 U.S. 175, 87 S.Ct. 2001, 18 L.Ed.2d 1123 (1967). Additionally, "it is the duty of a court in construing a law to consider the circumstances under which it was passed and the object to be accomplished by it." United States v. Anderson, 76 U.S. (9 Wall.) 56, 65-6, 19 L.Ed. 615 (1869)
Provisions derived from the general mining law of 1872 are now codified within Title 30, c. 2 (30 U.S.C. §§ 21-54)
A patent may convey less than the full fee title by reservations made in the patent or provided by law
In order to establish a valid discovery the "prudent man" test is used. The test as frequently stated is:
Where minerals have been found, and the evidence is of such a character that a person of ordinary prudence would be justified in the further expenditure of his labor and means, with a reasonable prospect of success, in developing a valuable mine, the requirements of the statute have been met.
Converse, 399 F.2d at 619 (quoting Castle v. Womble, 19 L.D. 455, 457 (1894). This prudent man test has been further modified to require a showing that the mineral can be extracted, removed and marketed at a profit. Converse, 399 F.2d at 621.
43 C.F.R. § 3712.1(b) provides:
The locator of an unpatented mining claim subject to the act is limited in his use of the claim to those uses specified in the act, namely prospecting, mining, or processing operations and uses reasonably incident thereto. He is forbidden to use it for any other purpose such, for example, as for filling stations, curio shops, cafes, tourist, or fishing and hunting camps. Except as such interference may result from uses permitted under the act, the locator of an unpatented mining claim subject to the act may not interfere with the right of the United States to manage the vegetative and other surface resources of the land, or use it so as to block access to or egress from adjacent public land, or use Federal timber for purposes other than those permitted under the act, or block access to water needed in grazing use of the national forests or other public lands, or block access to recreational areas, or prevent agents of the Federal Government from crossing the locator's claim in order to reach adjacent land for purposes of managing wild-game habitat or improving fishing streams so as to thwart the public harvest and proper management of fish and game resources on the public lands generally, both on located and on adjacent lands.
The federal government has since established grazing districts and requires specific grazing permits. See 43 U.S.C. §§ 315-316O
A report from the Department of Agriculture, to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs concerning the proposed legislation stated that as of January 1, 1952 there were 84,000 unpatented claims, covering 2.2 million acres of national forest but only 2% Of these mines were producing minerals in commercial quantities and probably no more than 40% Could be considered valid. As of January 1, 1955 there were an estimated 166,000 claims covering 4 million acres. H.R.Rep.730, 84th Cong., 1st Sess., Reprinted in (1955) 2 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, pp. 2474, 2492-93
Section 5 of the Multiple Use Act, 30 U.S.C. § 613 provides an in rem procedure to identify which patented claims will be subject to the provisions of § 612. Briefly stated § 613 provides that the federal agency having responsibility for administering the surface resources may publish a notice requiring claimants to file within 150 days a verified statement concerning their mining claims. Failure to file the statement constitutes a waiver of any rights in the claims that are contrary to the limitations of § 612. The failure to file does not, however, affect the validity of the claim itself but only subjects the claim to the limitations of § 612. Thus, a claim located prior to 1955 may, by this procedure, become subject to the limitations of § 612
The conclusion of the district court that a State license would be sufficient to permit access to the claim appears inconsistent with a conclusion that express permission must be obtained from the federal government. Senator Bible's illustration of a fisherman who had a State fishing license would appear to confirm our conclusion that the general implied license to use the federal lands was sufficient, because a state fishing license would not constitute an express permit or license from the federal government
NOW TELL ME THIS DOES NOT CREATE A WHOLE NEW ERA IN THE CLASSROOM. Ready and awaiting more_________________Proud of my generation and never to old to learn
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:21 am Post subject: this is what glindberg and i were discussing about the citing us for fishing or hunting on our claims...Perfect for that discussion.......
31 If locations must be proven fraudulent in court before dispossession, the mining laws must be so drawn or so framed as to make clear to locators what can and what cannot be done. On the other hand, continual interference by Federal agencies in an effort to overcome this difficulty would hamper and discourage the development of our mineral resources, development which has been encouraged and promoted by Federal mining law since shortly after 1800.
why wont they just leave us alone..THEY ARE TELLING THEY TO LEAVE US ALONE BUT THEY WONT LISTEN TO THEY..........
SHHEEEEIIIITTTT!!!!!_________________keep it simple stupid
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:26 pm Post subject: Don't you just love fuel for the fire. I thought the case would bring up a lot of issues and there is of course the 1955 Mutiple Use Act, which we have not even discussed yet. I just highlighted different statements that caugh MY attention. But the use of "Public Domain" vs "Public Lands" was most interesting.
BackbirdzJoined: 01 Oct 2015Posts: 2
Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:14 pm Post subject: Very long I kept reading it first and then come back.