BLM Public Land Segregation and Withdrawal — Temporarily Closing Federal Lands to Entry and Mineral Claims

A land segregation is the federal government's way of pressing pause. When a parcel of BLM-administered land is under consideration for sale, exchange, lease, monument designation, or withdrawal, segregation blocks anyone from filing a new mining claim, homestead application, or other competing entry on that parcel while the decision works its way through the process. A withdrawal goes further: it removes the land from the operation of specified public land laws — including the General Mining Law of 1872 — indefinitely. Together, segregation and withdrawal are the two primary legal tools that determine whether any given acre of federal land is "open" or "closed" to private claims.

The detailed rules for when segregation takes effect, how long it lasts, and when it expires are codified at 43 CFR Part 2090 (Subparts 2091–2094), administered by the Bureau of Land Management. These regulations are essential for anyone evaluating whether a federal parcel is available for mining, leasing, purchase, or development.

Current Rule (2026)

What This Rule Does

Every acre of BLM-administered public land has a legal "status" — open or closed to specific types of entry under the public land laws. The General Mining Law of 1872 is the most consequential of those laws: it allows any U.S. citizen to locate a hard-rock mineral claim on open federal land without asking government permission first. The Desert Land Act, the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, and other disposal statutes work similarly.

That open-entry model creates a race-to-file problem: if BLM is in the middle of an environmental review to protect an area, or negotiating a land exchange, or evaluating a nonprofit's application for a park site, nothing stops a third party from rushing in and staking a mining claim on the same parcel — potentially derailing the entire proceeding. Segregation is the legal mechanism that stops that race.

When a Notice of Realty Action is published in the Federal Register — signaling that BLM has identified land for a sale, exchange, or Recreation and Public Purposes lease — that publication automatically segregates the parcel from the mining laws for up to 18 months. During that window, no new claims can be staked. Existing valid claims filed before the segregation effective date are fully protected as "valid existing rights," but any claim attempted after the segregation date is invalid.

Withdrawal is the permanent version. A Presidential Proclamation, a Secretarial Public Land Order, or an Act of Congress can withdraw land from the mining laws (and sometimes from mineral leasing, grazing, or other uses) with no set expiration date. National parks, military reservations, wilderness areas, and national monuments are the most common subjects of withdrawal. FLPMA (1976) significantly reformed the pre-existing withdrawal system by requiring 90-day Congressional notification for any withdrawal over 5,000 acres and by mandating periodic review of all existing withdrawals — but it left the fundamental legal structure intact.

Part 2090 answers the practitioner's core question: as of exactly what date did this parcel stop being open to entry, and when — if ever — does it reopen?

Key Mechanics

Segregation and withdrawal operate through a clear trigger-and-termination structure. Here is how each step works:

1. Trigger event. Segregation is created by one of three mechanisms: (a) publication of a Notice of Realty Action or withdrawal application notice in the Federal Register; (b) a notation on the BLM Master Title Plat; or (c) a Presidential Proclamation or Secretarial Public Land Order taking immediate effect. The effective date is the date of Federal Register publication for post-1976 actions, or the date of signing for emergency withdrawals.

2. Segregation duration. Duration varies by the type of action that triggered it:

• Notice of Realty Action (R&PP, sale, exchange): automatic segregation for up to 18 months, or until the action is completed or formally abandoned
• Withdrawal application (post-October 21, 1976): automatic segregation for up to 2 years; if not completed, Congress must be notified and the period extended or the segregation lifts automatically
• Withdrawal by PLO or Presidential Proclamation: no fixed expiration; continues until expressly revoked
• Congressional withdrawal (by statute): duration as specified; if not specified, permanent until Congress acts again

3. Valid existing rights. A mining claim located, or an oil and gas lease approved, before the segregation effective date is protected as a valid existing right. BLM cannot void it by later withdrawal. The Part 2090 date mechanics exist precisely to resolve disputes about whether a claim predates a segregation.

4. Applications on segregated land. Under § 2091.1, BLM must accept all applications for the record — but must formally reject any application on segregated land. Applications cannot be held pending in anticipation of a segregation lifting. This prevents "squatter" priority claims from piling up.

5. Termination and opening. Segregation ends automatically when the action is completed, abandoned, or the period expires. A withdrawal ends when the Secretary revokes it via Public Land Order or Congress terminates it by statute. When land is opened, BLM publishes a simultaneous filing notice specifying the exact opening date and — for high-demand areas — may use a lottery system to allocate the first opportunity to file claims.

6. The mining-vs.-leasing distinction. Segregation from the General Mining Law (hard-rock minerals like gold, silver, copper) does not automatically segregate land from the Mineral Leasing Act (oil, gas, coal, potash). A parcel can be closed to new hard-rock mining claims while remaining open to oil and gas lease applications. This split status is common on BLM land in the Intermountain West and must be analyzed separately in any title review.

Legal Authority

• 43 U.S.C. § 1714 (FLPMA § 204) — primary withdrawal authority; requires 90-day Congressional notification for withdrawals over 5,000 acres; either chamber of Congress may pass a concurrent resolution of disapproval during that window; mandates periodic review of existing withdrawals
• 43 U.S.C. § 1740 (FLPMA § 310) — authority for the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations implementing FLPMA, including 43 CFR Part 2090
• 43 U.S.C. § 1713 (FLPMA § 203) — governs disposals of public land; Notice of Realty Action publication under this authority is the segregation trigger for sales, exchanges, and R&PP actions
• General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. §§ 21–54) — the primary law that segregation and withdrawal operate against; gives any citizen the right to locate a hard-rock mineral claim on "open" federal land; segregation removes land from "open" status under this law

How It Affects You

If you're a mining company, junior explorer, or individual prospector evaluating a BLM parcel for hard-rock mineral potential: check the parcel's legal status before spending a dollar on exploration. A parcel that shows up on a BLM surface management map as "public domain" may already be in segregated or withdrawn status. Use the BLM Land Status Information System (LSIS) at the relevant state or field office, or pull the Master Title Plat (MTP) directly. If you locate a claim on segregated land — even unknowingly — that claim is invalid and contestable by BLM. Part 2090's effective-date rules are your primary tool for arguing a "valid existing right" if your claim predates a subsequent withdrawal.

If you're a nonprofit, local government, or school district applying for a Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) lease or patent: once BLM publishes the Notice of Realty Action for your application, you're protected. The 18-month segregation period prevents a mining company from filing a claim on your proposed park or community facility site while BLM completes the environmental review, NHPA consultation, and approval process. If BLM misses the 18-month window, it must publish a new notice (resetting the clock) or the segregation lifts and your application becomes vulnerable again — which is why tracking the FR publication date matters.

If you work in federal land title, natural resources law, or mineral rights transactions: land segregation status is the first question in any federal land title examination. Pull the MTP, identify all active PLOs and withdrawal orders, check for pending Notices of Realty Action in recent Federal Register issues, and confirm whether open status applies to the mining laws, the mineral leasing laws, or both. A parcel with a split status — open to oil and gas leasing but withdrawn from the mining laws — is not unusual in Nevada, Wyoming, or the Intermountain West. The effective dates in Part 2090 control priority between competing filings.

If you're monitoring public land policy and wondering whether an executive order can undo a national monument or wilderness withdrawal: the answer is complicated. Presidential Proclamations can designate monuments under the Antiquities Act, and that designation creates a withdrawal from the mining laws. Whether a subsequent President can revoke or reduce that designation is legally contested — courts have not definitively settled it. Congressional withdrawal, by contrast, generally requires an Act of Congress to undo.

Recent Developments

• 2024–2025 — Monument and withdrawal disputes: The Biden administration finalized Chuckwalla National Monument (California, approximately 624,000 acres, January 2025) and previously expanded Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Each monument designation operates as a withdrawal from the mining laws. The Trump administration's 2025 executive orders directing Interior to review monument designations have renewed litigation and legislative proposals around whether prior withdrawals can be administratively shrunk or revoked.
• 2024 — Alaska withdrawal review: The Biden administration reinstated a 28-million-acre withdrawal in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve that had been partially lifted under the first Trump administration. The withdrawal status of Alaska lands — affecting oil, gas, and hard-rock minerals — has been in near-continuous litigation for two decades.
• Part 2090 itself is stable: No rulemaking to amend the segregation and withdrawal procedures in 43 CFR Part 2090 has been initiated since 1984. The substantive battles are fought through PLOs, Presidential Proclamations, and litigation — not CFR amendments.

Pending Action

No active rulemakings to amend 43 CFR Part 2090 are pending as of 2026. The framework's procedural rules are stable. The live policy debates — monument boundaries, Alaska oil development, the scope of Presidential withdrawal authority under the Antiquities Act — are being resolved through executive action, litigation, and occasional legislation, not regulatory amendment of Part 2090. Watch the Federal Register's "Public Land Orders" section and Interior Department press releases for changes to specific withdrawal orders.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a segregation and a withdrawal? Segregation is temporary — it blocks new filings while a pending action (sale, exchange, withdrawal proposal) is being processed, and it automatically expires if the action isn't completed. Withdrawal is the substantive outcome: land is formally removed from the operation of specified public land laws, potentially indefinitely, by Presidential, Secretarial, or Congressional action.

Does a withdrawal affect existing mining claims? Generally no. Valid mining claims located before the withdrawal effective date are protected as valid existing rights and can continue to be developed. The withdrawal blocks new claims from being located after the effective date.

Can a President undo a prior President's withdrawal? For Secretarial withdrawals (Public Land Orders), yes — the Secretary can revoke a prior PLO. For Presidential Proclamations under the Antiquities Act, the legal answer is genuinely unsettled. Courts have never ruled definitively on whether a President can shrink or revoke a monument designation made under the Antiquities Act. Congress retains the clearest authority to modify or revoke any withdrawal.

Does a withdrawal from the mining laws also close the land to oil and gas leasing? Not automatically. The mining laws (hard rock) and the Mineral Leasing Act (oil, gas, coal) are separate legal regimes. A withdrawal order specifies which laws it removes the land from. Many BLM parcels are open to oil and gas leasing while simultaneously closed to the General Mining Law. Always check the specific PLO language.

How do I find out if a parcel is open or withdrawn? Pull the BLM Master Title Plat (MTP) for the township-range-section containing the parcel. The MTP records all withdrawal, segregation, and opening actions in historical order. Cross-reference with current Public Land Orders (searchable at the Federal Register) and the BLM Land Status Information System (LSIS) at the relevant state office.

Sources

• 43 CFR Part 2090 (Subparts 2091–2094) — BLM segregation and withdrawal regulations
• 43 U.S.C. §§ 1713–1714, 1740 — FLPMA withdrawal and disposal authority
• 30 U.S.C. §§ 21–54 — General Mining Law of 1872
• BLM Land and Mineral Records System documentation
• Federal Register — Public Land Orders series