Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§482j Santa Fe National Forest; mining rights; protection of scenic values

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - NATIONAL FORESTS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION › § 482j

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives people who located mining claims on or after June 10, 1949, in certain parts of the Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe, New Mexico, the right to use and occupy as much of the surface as is reasonably needed to look for minerals, mine them, and process the ore. The covered lands include specified sections in township 17 north, range 10 east; sections in township 18 north, range 10 east; and about three thousand eight hundred and forty acres (more or less) in unsurveyed township 18 north, range 11 east, New Mexico principal meridian. No permit or fee is required for that surface use. Claim holders may take mineral deposits and the timber needed for mining and ore processing. Cutting timber beyond what is needed for mining or for space for mining buildings must follow the same timber rules that apply to the nearby national forest. Claim holders must not block other lawful uses or permits for the surface or its resources when those uses do not conflict with mining.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §482j

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

On and after June 10, 1949, mining locations made under mining laws of the United States within the following-described lands within the Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe, New Mexico: section 1, 2, 3, the northeast quarter of section 11 and the north half of section 12, in surveyed township 17 north, range 10 east; section 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 36, and that portion of section 25, outside the boundaries of the Gabaldon Grant in surveyed township 18 north, range 10 east; three thousand eight hundred and forty acres, more or less, in unsurveyed township 18 north, range 11 east, expected to be legally described, when surveyed, as section 7, 8, 18, 19, and 30, the northeast quarter of section 17, the west half of section 17 and the west half of section 20, township 18 north, range 11 east, New Mexico principal meridian, shall confer on the locator the right to occupy and use so much of the surface of the land covered by the location as may be reasonably necessary to carry on prospecting, mining, and beneficiation of ores including the taking of mineral deposits and timber required by or in the mining and ore reducing operations, and no permit shall be required or charge made for such use or occupancy: Provided, however, That the cutting and removal of timber, except where clearing is necessary in connection with mining operations or to provide space for buildings or structures used in connection with mining operations, shall be conducted in accordance with the rules for timber cutting on adjoining national-forest land, and no use of the surface of the claim or the resources therefrom not reasonably required for carrying on mining and prospecting shall be allowed except under the national-forest rules and regulations, nor shall the locator prevent or obstruct other occupancy of the surface or use of surface resources under authority of national-forest regulations, or permits issued thereunder, if such occupancy or use is not in conflict with mineral development.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 482j

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73