---
kind: "range"
citation: "16 U.S.C. §§ 482j–482l"
title: "16"
from: "482j"
to: "482l"
count: 3
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/482j..482l"
---

# §482j. Santa Fe National Forest; mining rights; protection of scenic values


On and after June 10, 1949, mining locations made under mining laws of the United States within the following-described lands within the Santa Fe [National Forest](/usc/16/5207.md?p=3), Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sections [1](/usc/16/1.md), [2](/usc/16/2.md), [3](/usc/16/3.md), the northeast quarter of [section 11](/usc/16/11.md) and the north half of [section 12](/usc/16/12.md), in surveyed township 17 north, range 10 east; sections [12](/usc/16/12.md), [13](/usc/16/13.md), [14](/usc/16/14.md), [15](/usc/16/15.md), [16](/usc/16/16.md), [36](/usc/16/36.md), and that portion of [section 25](/usc/16/25.md), outside the boundaries of the Gabaldon Grant in surveyed township 18 north, range 10 east; three thousand eight hundred and forty acres, more or less, in unsurveyed township 18 north, range 11 east, expected to be legally described, when surveyed, as sections [7](/usc/16/7.md), [8](/usc/16/8.md), [18](/usc/16/18.md), 19, and [30](/usc/16/30.md), the northeast quarter of [section 17](/usc/16/17.md), the west half of [section 17](/usc/16/17.md) and the west half of section 20, township 18 north, range 11 east, New Mexico principal meridian, shall confer on the locator the right to occupy and use so much of the surface of the land covered by the location as may be reasonably necessary to carry on prospecting, mining, and beneficiation of ores including the taking of mineral deposits and timber required by or in the mining and ore reducing operations, and no permit shall be required or charge made for such use or occupancy: Provided, however, That the cutting and removal of timber, except where clearing is necessary in connection with mining operations or to provide space for buildings or structures used in connection with mining operations, shall be conducted in accordance with the rules for timber cutting on adjoining national-forest land, and no use of the surface of the claim or the [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8) therefrom not reasonably required for carrying on mining and prospecting shall be allowed except under the national-forest rules and regulations, nor shall the locator prevent or obstruct other occupancy of the surface or use of surface [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8) under authority of national-forest regulations, or permits issued thereunder, if such occupancy or use is not in conflict with mineral development.


# §482k. Patents affecting forest lands


On and after June 10, 1949, all patents issued under the United States mining laws affecting lands within the above-described [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) shall convey title to the mineral deposits within the claim, together with the right to cut and remove so much of the mature timber therefrom as may be needed in extracting and removing and beneficiation of the mineral deposits, if the timber is cut under sound principles of forest management as defined by the national-forest rules and regulations, but each patent shall reserve to the United States all title in or to the surface of the lands and products thereof, and no use of the surface of the claim or the [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8) therefrom not reasonably required for carrying on mining or prospecting shall be allowed except under the rules and regulations of the Department of Agriculture.


# §482l. Perfection of mining claims within forest


Valid mining claims within the said lands, existing on June 10, 1949, and thereafter maintained in compliance with the law under which they were initiated and the laws of the [State](/usc/16/6456.md?p=2) of New Mexico, may be perfected under [sections 482j to 482l](/usc/16/482j..482l.md) of this title, or under the laws under which they were initiated, as the claimant may desire.