[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 48621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20743]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-070-1430-ET; NMNM 6337]


Public Land Order No. 7579; Partial Revocation of Public Land 
Order No. 2198; NM

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Public land order.

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SUMMARY: This order revokes a public land order insofar as it affects 
approximately 1,433 acres of lands withdrawn for use by the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs. This order opens the lands to surface entry, mining, 
and mineral leasing.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 15, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Albert Gonzales, BLM Farmington Field 
Office, 1235 La Plata Highway, Farmington, NM 87401, 505-599-6334.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The partial revocation will facilitate an 
administrative boundary adjustment between the Bureau of Land 
Management and the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Order

    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 (1994), it is ordered as follows:
    1. Public Land Order No. 2198, which withdrew lands for use by the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, is hereby revoked insofar as it affects the 
following described lands:

New Mexico Principal Meridian
T. 19 N., R. 7 W.,
sec. 17, S\1/2\;
sec. 19;
sec. 21, N\1/2\, and SW\1/4\.

    The areas described aggregate approximately 1,433 acres in McKinley 
County.
    2. At 10 a.m. on September 15, 2003, the lands 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 10 a.m. on September 15, 
2003, shall be considered as simultaneously filed at that time. Those 
received thereafter shall be considered in the order of filing.
    3. At 10 a.m. on September 15, 2003, the lands will be opened to 
location and entry under the United States mining laws and to the 
operation of the mineral leasing 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 attempted adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 
38 (1994), 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 
determination in local courts.

    Dated: July 25, 2003.
Rebecca W. Watson,
Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 03-20743 Filed 8-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-VB-P