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Show Law Requires Registration of Pilining Claims on Park Units Recent Federal legislation requires that existing mining claims within all units of the National Park System be recorded with the National Park Service by September 28, 1977. Any claims not recorded by that date will be presumed abandoned and shall be void. Detailed information on the recording procedure is available avail-able from the superintendent of the park area in which the claim is located. This provision of Public Law 94-429 will help the Park Service identify mining claim locations in which there is an expression of an active interest, inter-est, according to NPS Rocky Mountain Regional Director Lynn H. Thompson. This information will assist park administrators in the planning and management of park resources. Thompson explained that" the claims in this Region would have been located prior to the establishment of park units. In the 42 areas of the Region, which includes all NPS units in Montana, Wyoming, Wyo-ming, Utah, Colorado, and North and South Dakota, there are estimated to be more than 30,000 such existing claims, but active interest may not be expressed in all of them. Regulations governing activities ac-tivities resulting from the exercise of valid existing mineral rights on mining claims within NPS areas are being developed by the Secretary Secre-tary of the Interior, as required in the Act. These regulations will minimize the adverse impacts to park resources. The law also provides for special consideration by the Secretary for protection of natural landmarks that might be adversely affected by mining activity. Additionally, the law closes to mineral entry and location the last six areas of the National Park System that have been open under the Mining Law of 1872. None of these areas is located in the Rocky Mountain Region. They include Death Valley NM, California-Nevada; Glacier Bay NM, Alaska; Crater Lake NP, Oregon; Organ Pipe Cactus NM, Arizona; Mount McKinley NP, Alaska, and Coronado NM, Arizona. Questions about the law can be addressed to the park superintendents or the the NPS Mining and Minerals Office, Rocky Mountain Regional Reg-ional Office, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225. |