§1280 Federal mining and mineral leasing laws

Summary

Mining and mineral leasing laws still apply inside parts of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, but the law limits some mining and leasing activities to protect those rivers. If a river area was designated under section 1274 or added later, any mining claims not finalized before the designation, and any leases issued or renewed after the area is included, must follow rules the Secretary of the Interior (or the Secretary of Agriculture for national forest lands) creates to protect the river. If a claim is perfected or patented inside the system, the owner only gets the mineral deposits and only the surface use reasonably needed for mining, and that use must follow those rules, subject to valid existing rights. Minerals that make up a river’s bed or bank, or lie within one-quarter mile of the bank of any river designated “wild,” are withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from the mineral leasing laws, including later amendments, subject to valid existing rights. Minerals in federal lands that are bed or bank or within one-quarter mile of rivers listed in section 1276(a) are withdrawn during the time periods in section 1278(b). Prospecting and issuing leases, licenses, or permits may still occur there but only under conditions the Secretaries set to protect the area if it is later included in the system. For the river segments listed in paragraphs (77) through (88) of section 1276(a), all public lands that are bed or bank or lie within two miles of the river on both sides are withdrawn, subject to valid existing rights, during the periods in section 1278(b).