ABSTRACT
For nearly fifty years after adoption o f the Mining Law the vast majority o f federal lands were open to its operation. The only excep tions were military bases, Indian reservations, the (relatively few) national parks, and a handful o f other areas subject to special with drawals or reservations (see chapter 4). Although virtually all federal lands were visited by prospectors during this era, and many discov eries made and mines developed, some large tracts o f land remained substantially undisturbed either because prospectors came up empty or the costs o f development outweighed the value o f minerals found.
