[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 231 (Friday, November 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60723-60724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30462]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[MT-924-1430-01; MTM 13213 and MTM 40645]


Public Land Order No. 7226; Partial Revocation Executive Order 
No. 5237 and Revocation of Public Land Order No. 5739; Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Public Land Order.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This order revokes an Executive order insofar as it affects 
524.61 acres of public lands withdrawn by the Bureau of Land Management 
for classification of Federal oil shale reserves. This order also 
revokes a public land order in its entirety as to

[[Page 60724]]

297.76 acres withdrawn for the Bannack National Historic District. The 
lands are no longer needed for these purposes, and the revocations are 
needed to transfer the lands to the State of Montana under the 
Recreation and Public Purposes Act. This action will open the oil shale 
lands to surface entry and nonmetalliferous mining and the Bannack 
lands to mining, unless closed by overlapping withdrawals or temporary 
segregations of record. The oil shale lands have been and will remain 
open to metalliferous mining. All the lands have been and will remain 
open to mineral leasing.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 30, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Ward, BLM Montana State Office, 
P.O. Box 36800, Billings, Montana 59107, 406-255-2949.
    By virtue of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior 
by Section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 
43 U.S.C. 1714 (1988), it is ordered as follows:
    1. The Executive Order No. 5237, dated April 15, 1930, which 
withdrew public lands for the Bureau of Land Management's oil shale 
reserve, is hereby revoked insofar as it affects the following 
described lands:

Principal Meridian, Montana

T. 8 S., R. 11 W.,
    Sec. 6, lots 1 to 9, inclusive, S\1/2\NE\1/4\, and SE\1/4\NW\1/
4\.
T. 8 S., R. 12 W.,
    Sec. 1, lot 6;
    Sec. 12, E\1/2\NE\1/4\.

    The areas described contain 524.61 acres in Beaverhead County.

    2. Public Land Order No. 5739, which withdrew public lands for the 
Bannack National Historic District, is hereby revoked in its entirety:

T. 8 S., R. 11 W.,
    Sec. 5, lot 8;
    Sec. 6, lots 6 to 9, inclusive, and lot 11;
    Sec. 7, lot 1, east 660 feet of lot 4, lots 6 and 8, north 660 
feet of lot 10, lots 14, 16, and 17, and NE\1/4\NW\1/4\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 8, lot 5.

    The areas described contain 297.76 acres in Beaverhead County.

    The total areas described aggregate 822.37 acres in Beaverhead 
County.

    3. At 9 a.m. on December 30, 1996, the lands described in paragraph 
1 will be opened to the operation of the public land laws generally, 
subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing 
withdrawals, other segregations of record, and the requirements of 
applicable law. All valid applications received at or prior to 9 a.m. 
on December 30, 1996, shall be considered as simultaneously filed at 
that time. Those received thereafter shall be considered in the order 
of filing.
    4. At 9 a.m. on December 30, 1996, the lands described in paragraph 
1 will be opened to nonmetalliferous mining and the lands described in 
paragraph 2 will be opened to mining under the United States mining 
laws, subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing 
withdrawals, other segregations of record, and the requirements of 
applicable law. Appropriation of any of the lands described in this 
order under the general mining laws prior to the date and time of 
restoration is unauthorized. Any such attempted appropriation, 
including attempting adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 38 (1988), 
shall vest no rights against the United States. Acts required to 
establish a location and to initiate a right of possession are governed 
by State law where not in conflict with Federal law. The Bureau of Land 
Management will not intervene in disputes between rival locators over 
possessory rights since Congress has provided for such determinations 
in local courts.

    Dated: November 4, 1996.
Bob Armstrong,
Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 96-30462 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DN-P