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47-888: Wilderness study areas (WSAs) are authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. The Act directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the United States Department of the Interior to inventory and study all federally owned roadless areas for possible designation as a Wilderness Area. To qualify as a wilderness study area, the land must be a roadless area of at least 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) (or be of "manageable size"), generally unaffected by human development, provide opportunities for primitive or unconfined recreation, and have special ecological, geological, educational, historical, scientific and/or scenic value. Until

94-471: A detailed plan that analyzed the environmental concerns of federal land. The act greatly increased the power of the Bureau of Land Management in the Department of the Interior to acquire and dispose of federal land. The FLPMA required a plan to be created for land to determine the environmental value of that land and if it could be designated for public use. The plan would detail the environmental concerns of

141-429: A large part of mineral exploration. A brief outline of rights and responsibilities of parties involved can be found here. Unified estates, sometimes referred to as "fee simple" or "unified tenure" mean that the surface and mineral rights are not severed. This type of estate occurs when mineral and surface ownership are separated. This can occur from prior ownership of mineral rights or is commonly performed when land

188-442: A mineral interest may separately convey any or all of the above-listed interests. Minerals may be possessed as a life estate , which does not permit a person to sell them, but merely that they own the minerals so long as they live. After this, the rights revert to a predesignated entity, such as a specific organization or person. It is possible for a mineral right owner to sever and sell an oil and gas royalty interest, while keeping

235-703: A price to be paid to the mineral rights owner for the minerals to be extracted, and a set of circumstances under which those minerals are to be extracted. For instance, a mineral rights owner might request that the company minimize any noise and light pollution when extracting the minerals. Leases are usually term-limited, meaning the company has a limited amount of time to develop the resources; if they do not begin development within that time-frame they forfeit their right to extract those minerals. The four components of mineral rights leasing are: There are three distinct but related aspects of ownership. They are: To bring oil and gas reserves to market, minerals are conveyed for

282-419: A signature, a current address and social security number for individual royalty owners or tax identification number for companies. An oil and gas lease is a contract because it contains consideration, consent, legal tangible items and competency. Many other line items can be negotiated by the time the contract is complete. The rights of all parties are defined in agreements; and, when mineral production begins,

329-500: A specified time to oil companies through a legally binding contract known as a lease. This arrangement between individual mineral owners and oil companies began prior to 1900 and still thrives today. Before exploration can begin, the mineral owner (lessor) and the oil company (lessee) must agree to certain terms regarding the rights, privileges and obligations of the respective parties during the exploration and possible production stages. Although there are numerous other important details,

376-506: A variety of uses on their land (of greater concern for the BLM, who is the least restrictive in terms of uses) while simultaneously trying to preserve the natural resources in them. This concept is best summarized by the term 'multiple-use.' 'Multiple use' is defined in the Act as "management of the public lands and their various resource values so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet

423-490: A wilderness. At present, the MWA is concerned that oil and gas drilling proposals in the nearby Area of Critical Concern could have a negative impact on the wilderness character of the area. Federal Land Policy and Management Act The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) is a United States federal law that governs the way in which the public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management are managed. The law

470-560: Is a function of the net value of the proceeds from the sale of the oil, gas, or other substance, multiplied by the owner's revenue interest decimal, less any amounts deducted for taxes or other deductions. The revenue decimal used to calculate the amount of an owner's royalty check is calculated with the following equation: Revenue interest decimal = ( A ÷ U ) × R × ( P × Y − D ) {\displaystyle =(A\div U)\times R\times (P\times Y-D)} It

517-433: Is a stipulation, derived from the lease agreement and other agreements, as to what the operator of a well or an oil and/or gas purchaser will disburse in terms of revenue to the mineral owner and others. The purpose of the division order is to show how the mineral revenues are divided up between the oil company, the owners of the mineral rights (royalty owners) and the overriding royalty interest owners. The division order needs

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564-668: Is because in United States law, mineral rights trump surface rights. The U.S. historical precedent for this severance roots from western expansion and The Land Ordinance Act of 1785 and The Northwest Ordinance Act of 1789 at the cost of dispossessed Natives. Severability was further reinforced by the Homestead Act of 1862 (OHA) and the 1862 Railroad Act. Agricultural patents and the California gold rush of 1848 began placing lands that were mineral abundant into private hands and furthered

611-413: Is common for royalty checks to fluctuate between pay periods due to monthly changes in oil or gas prices, or changes in the volumes produced by the associated oil or gas wells. Additionally, royalties may cease altogether if the associated wells quit producing marketable quantities of oil or gas, if the operating company has changed hands and the new operator has not yet established a new payment account for

658-643: Is further exacerbated by industry lobbying that enables the status quo of favoring oil and gas development vs other innovations. This severability can create tension between mineral rights owners and surface rights owners if the surface rights owners do not want to allow the mineral rights owners to use their property to access their minerals. This is becoming ever more present in the light of recent unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) made feasible by technological advancement such as hydraulic fracturing . Problems include water pollution, fluid storage issues and surface damages. These are especially common in

705-549: Is managed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, formerly the Minerals Management Service. An example from Canada's northern territories is the federal rules on royalties for oil in border lands. The royalty rate begins at 1% of gross sales for the first 18 months of commercial production and increases by 1% every 18 months up to a maximum of 5% until initial costs are recovered, after which

752-433: Is passed between family generations. Today corporations own a significant portion of mineral rights beneath private individuals. Here a percentage of the mineral property is owned by two or more entities. This can occur when owners leave fractions of the rights to multiple children or grandchildren. Mineral estates can be severed, or separated, from surface estates. There are two main avenues to mineral rights severance:

799-469: Is the "rule of capture" whereby minerals capable of migrating beneath the Earth's surface can be extracted, even if the original source was another person's mineral property. Such claims typically are protected by various states' oil and gas regulatory agencies whose broader mandate is to promote conservation and minimize conflicts between mineral owners. The five elements of a mineral right are: The owner of

846-507: Is true for all states. In many North American jurisdictions, oil and gas royalty interests are considered real property under the NAICS classification code and are eligible for a similar type of 1031 exchange. As a standard example, for every $ 100 per barrel of oil sold from a U.S. federal well with a 25% royalty, the U.S. government gets $ 25. The U.S. government does not pay, and will only collect revenue. All risks and responsibilities lie with

893-698: The House of Representatives and the Senate to create an act that would change how federal lands were overseen, transitioning from little management to intense land management. The work of the Public Land Law Review Commission and the commission's findings have been given credit for introducing ideas that would eventually lead to FLPMA. The Public Land Law Review Commission reviewed legislation regarding federal land, deducing which laws were outdated, unnecessary, and needed to be revised. The numerous laws that

940-581: The National Wilderness Preservation System as a result of the wilderness reviews mandated by FLPMA. Those ordered to implement policies from FLPMA are trained government employees using guidelines expressly stated within the act itself. Mineral rights Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate ). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below

987-521: The Public Land Law Review Commission found to be inefficient combined with the public's desire for better federal land management motivated the United States Congress to pass the FLPMA. The FLPMA changed the way that the federal government managed lands and the resources on those lands by providing the Bureau of Land Management more control over the acquisition and disposal of land and by creating

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1034-614: The United States Congress makes a final determination on the status of a wilderness study area, the BLM must manage the area as a wilderness. The Sleeping Giant region is a roughly rectangular area bounded by Interstate 15 on the west and Holter Lake on the east, the south boundary runs from the Hilger Valley to the Ming Bar , and the north boundary runs from the northern edge of the Oxbow Bend of Holter Lake to Interstate 15. The Gates of

1081-437: The BLM is also given a mandate to recommend areas for designation as Wilderness and are given 15 years to do so. The BLM is to conduct studies, classifying areas as Wilderness Study Areas . These areas are not official Wilderness areas but are, for all intents and purposes, treated as such until formally designated as Wilderness or released by Congress . Approximately 8.8 million acres of BLM wilderness are currently included in

1128-700: The Earth's surface or fluid minerals such as oil or natural gas. There are three major types of mineral property: unified estate, severed or split estate, and fractional ownership of minerals. Owning mineral rights (often referred to as a "mineral interest" or a "mineral estate") gives the owner the right to exploit, mine, or produce any or all minerals they own. Minerals can refer to oil, gas, coal, metal ores, stones, sands, or salts. An owner of mineral rights may sell, lease, or donate those minerals to any person or company as they see fit. Mineral interests can be owned by private landowners, private companies, or federal, state or local governments. Sorting these rights are

1175-493: The Mountains Wilderness is nearby, beginning on the opposite side of Holter Lake. There is an airplane landing strip on the Ming Bar east of the study area. The wilderness study area (WSA) contains important wildlife habitat. It is named after the "Sleeping Giant" formation (part of which is formally designated Beartooth Mountain, elevation 6,792 feet (2,070 m)), a historic and noted natural landmark contained within

1222-593: The Sleeping Giant WSA. In 2007, BLM proposed continuing to manage the Sleeping Giant region as a wilderness area, even though Congress had not yet acted on its 1991 recommendation to formally designate it as such. The same year, the Montana Wilderness Association (MWA) began meeting with local residents in a long-term effort to build public support for formally designating the Sleeping Giant WSA

1269-558: The West Virginia gas wells of the Marcellus Shale. Often, companies will offer a surface rights owner a surface use agreement, which can provide financial compensation to the surface owner, or more commonly, offer some concessions on how the minerals are accessed. For example, some surface use agreements require the company to access the property from specific roads or points on the property. A major issue involving fluid mineral rights

1316-470: The area around it during their initial passage through the region in 1805. The Sleeping Giant region was designated a wilderness study area in 1981. In late 1982, United States Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt removed the Sleeping Giant area from protection as a WSA, concluding that the area would never meet the definition of a wilderness area because it was too small and some mineral rights in

1363-580: The area were owned by private citizens or companies. The Sleeping Giant region was granted WSA status again in 1985, and the WSA enlarged in 1988. In 1991, the BLM recommended to Congress that the Sleeping Giant area be formally designated as wilderness. In 1991, BLM estimated that about 40 percent of the Sleeping Giant WSA contained privately owned oil and natural gas mineral rights. In 1997, Lewis and Clark National Forest Supervisor Gloria Flora exercised statutory authority to ban new oil and gas development leases in

1410-449: The basic structure of the lease is straightforward: in exchange for an up-front lease bonus payment, plus a royalty percentage of the value of any production, the mineral owner grants the oil company the right to drill for a period of time, known as the primary term. If the term of the oil or gas lease extends beyond the primary term, and a well was not drilled, then the Lessee is required to pay

1457-400: The division order states how much revenue goes to each party involved. Mineral owners may receive a monthly royalty check if oil, gas, or any other substances of value are extracted from below the surface and either sold or used by an oil and gas operating company. Royalty statements include the production and revenue figures for both the individual owner and the entire well. The royalty paid

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1504-446: The environment. This area's travel management plan was updated in 2003. The Sleeping Giant landform was well-known to Native Americans in the United States . Members of Native American tribes as far away as present-day Minnesota knew of the landmark, and told the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition about it. The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped below the Sleeping Giant and explored

1551-428: The forest east of the Sleeping Giant WSA for 15 years. Petroleum industry interests sued to overturn the decision, but U.S. district and appellate courts refused to do. Oil and gas drilling companies asked for permission to drill exploratory wells and conduct seismic petroleum exploration in the Sleeping Giant WSA in the late 1990s, but BLM denied the request. BLM did grant a drilling request for non-WSA land north of

1598-415: The lake still exist but are not maintained for use. The 3,801-acre (1,538 ha) Sheep Creek Wilderness Study Area is located immediately west of and adjacent to the Sleeping Giant WSA. Both WSAs are surrounded by a BLM-designated 11,609 acres (4,698 ha) "Area of Critical Environmental Concern" (ACEC), and another 6,691 acres (2,708 ha) of BLM land where wheeled vehicle use is managed to protect

1645-465: The land, requiring that three factors be upheld: The Bureau of Land Management had to follow these requirements when making any decisions regarding the management of federal land that was intended for public use. Congress recognized the value of the public lands, declaring that these lands would remain in public ownership. The National Forest Service , National Park Service , and now, the Bureau of Land Management , are commissioned in FLPMA to allow

1692-400: The lessor a delay rental. This delay rental could be $ 1 or more per acre. In some cases, no drilling occurs and the lease simply expires. The duration of the lease may be extended when drilling or production starts. This enters into the period of time known as the secondary term, which applies for as long as oil and gas is produced in paying quantities. A division order is not a contract. It

1739-406: The other mineral rights. In such case, if the oil lease expires, the royalty interest is extinguished, its purchaser has nothing, and the mineral owner still owns the minerals. An owner of mineral rights may choose to lease those mineral rights to a company for development at any point. Signing a lease signals that both parties agree to the terms laid out in the lease. Lease terms typically include

1786-497: The owner of the soil, so far as it is necessary to carry on mining operations.” (Turner v. Reynolds, 1854). A later case in Texas in 1862 set precedent by stating “it is a well-established doctrine from the earliest days of the common law, that the right to the minerals thus reserved carries with it the right to enter, dig and carry them away." (Cowan v. Hardeman, 1862). Some may argue that the U.S. justice system's enabling of this precedent

1833-502: The owner, or if the operating company or product purchaser is missing appropriate paperwork or proper documentation of changes in ownership or contact information. In the United States, simple ownership of mineral rights is possible, and royalty payments to individuals are quite common. Local taxing authorities may levy a severance tax on non-renewable natural resources extracted or withdrawn within their authority. The federal government receives royalties for mining on federal lands, which

1880-489: The precedent of mineral rights outweighing surface rights. This was a crucial step in the development of an economic system based largely on private incentives and market transactions. An early case involving a property dispute between a father and son involving ownership of coal veins in Pennsylvania is cited stating; “One who has the exclusive right to mine coal upon a tract of land has the right of possession even as against

1927-784: The present and future needs of the American people." FLPMA addresses topics such as land-use planning , land acquisition, fees and payments, administration of federal land, range management, and right-of-ways on federal land. FLPMA has specific objectives and time frames in which to accomplish these objectives, giving it more authority and eliminating the uncertainty surrounding the BLM's role in wilderness designation and management. Parts of FLPMA relating specifically to Wilderness are found in Subchapter VI Designated Management Areas (§§ 1781 to 1787) under 43 U.S. Code § 1782 - Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study . Here,

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1974-628: The proposed wilderness area. The "Sleeping Giant" outline is a widely used marketing tool by area businesses. The mountains in the WSA range from 3,600 feet (1,100 m) to approximately 6,800 feet (2,100 m) in elevation. About half the WSA is forested, and roughly 20 creeks and streams drain the area. The Sleeping Giant study area is a critical mountain goat habitat in the state of Montana, and also contains significant populations of bald eagles , bighorn sheep , black bear , brook trout , cutthroat trout , elk , golden eagles , mule deer , osprey , and peregrine falcons . Human development within

2021-521: The royalty rate is set at 5% of gross sales or 30% of net sales. Thus, the risks and profits are shared between the Government of Canada (as the owner of the resources) and the oil developer. This attractive royalty rate is designed to incentivize oil and gas exploration in Canada's remote frontier areas, where costs and risks are higher than elsewhere. Oil and gas license fee rates range from 12.5% to 25%. This

2068-606: The study area is minimal. The BLM maintains several seasonally accessible dirt roads (Bear Gulch Road, Bear Ridge Road, Powerline Road, Powerline Spar, and Woodsiding Road) in the WSA, and a single year-round accessible road (Medicine Gulch Road) in the western portion of the study area. Interstate 15 and Lyons Creek Road (a county access road) border the western part of the wilderness study area. The Sleeping Giant area also includes 7 miles (11 km) of horse riding and hiking trails, and 40 primitive camping sites at Holter Lake. Several abandoned structures built by early white settlers near

2115-421: The surface property may be sold and the minerals retained, or the minerals may be sold and the surface property retained, though the former is more common. When mineral rights have been severed from the surface rights (or property rights), it is referred to as a "split estate." In a split estate, the owner of the mineral rights has the right to develop those minerals, regardless of who owns the surface rights. This

2162-505: The well operator. Royalties in the timber industry are called "stump trimming". A surface use agreement (SUA) is a contract between a property owner and a mineral rights holder that dictates how the mineral rights are to be developed. Meaning, when mineral rights are extracted by a company that does not own the property above where the minerals are located, the company has the legal right to extract those minerals regardless. However, companies will often enter into voluntary negotiations with

2209-633: Was enacted in 1976 by the 94th Congress and is found in the United States Code under Title 43 . The Federal Land Policy and Management Act phased out homesteading in the United States by repealing the pre-existing Homestead Acts . Multiple factors led to the passing of the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976. Public opinion and attitude towards natural land had shifted, with more people wanting to preserve and protect federal lands . The public influenced representatives in

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