ELR Citation: ELR 21428
No(s). 97-5145 (D.C. Cir. Jun 5, 1998)

The court holds that a 1994 notation in the public land records segregated certain federal lands in southern California from the operation of mining laws and rendered mining claims void ab initio. The court first holds that the notation recording a June 1994 segregation in the relevant U.S. Bureau of Land Management records served to remove the subject lands from mineral entry, even if the underlying withdrawal of the land was effected or perpetuated in error. The regulations applicable to the June 1994 segregation pending a proposed land exchange specify that segregation commences with a notation in the land records and terminates five years from the notation date, when a decision not to proceed with the exchange is published in the Federal Register, or when the land is conveyed in accordance with an exchange agreement. Thus, the 1994 notation, implemented in accordance with the regulations, operated to segregate the lands in question from the operation of mining laws until 1999 or until the notation was otherwise nullified. The court next rejects the claimants' argument and finds that even assuming that the withdrawal underlying the notation was unlawful, the court will not recognize their mining claims filed prior to public correction of the 1994 notation. Courts, as well as the U.S. Department of the Interior, have consistently upheld similar notation rules as barring mining entries until the notation is either corrected or superseded—even if the underlying segregation was erroneous or otherwise unlawful—for the sake of fairness to the general public. Because the court holds that the notation effectively segregated the lands at issue, it does not reach the question of whether the withdrawal underlying the 1994 notation was valid. Furthermore, because it finds that the claimants' mining claims are null and void ab initio, the court does not address the validity or effect of a 1992 segregation or the notation pertaining to it.

Counsel for Appellants
Francis E. Froelich
Wilcox, Carroll & Froelich
2011 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste. 301, Washington DC 20006
(202) 296-3005

Counsel for Appellees
Sean H. Donahue
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Before Tatel and Buckley, JJ.