ABSTRACT
One frequently neglected aspect of the Mining Law is its applicability to land where the minerals are owned by the federal government but the surface is privately owned. There are some 63 million acres in this category, though on only about two-thirds of this acreage have minerals subject to the Mining Law been reserved. 1 Evolving attitudes toward application of the Mining Law on these lands are worth brief consideration, for they typify the change in policy toward conflicts between mineral and nonmineral uses discussed in preceding chapters.
