81ST CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session { REPORT No. 489 PROVIDING FOR THE TEMPORARY DEFERMENT IN CERTAIN UNAVOIDABLE CONTINGENCIES OF ANNUAL ASSESSMENT WORK ON MINING CLAIMS HELD BY LOCATION IN THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. PETERSON, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT To accompany H. R. 3754] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3754) providing for the temporary deferment in certain unavoidable contingencies of annual assessment work on mining claims held by location in the United States, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 2, line 14, strike out the word "in" and insert in lieu thereof the words "not later than the end of". Page 2, line 18, strike out all after the period. Strike out all of lines 19, 20, and 21. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior in certain unavoidable contingencies, and with respect only to those mining claims affected by such contingencies, to postpone temporarily the annual assessment work requirement. The required assessment work, which consists of $100 worth of labor or improvements on the claim, must be done between noon on July 1 of one year and noon on July 1 of the following year. If the claim holder fails to perform the work within this time, the minerals are subject to relocation by others, in which case he will lose the claim and the benefits of all his work previously performed. It frequently happens that the surface of a claim is owned by other than the mineral claimant, or that the claim is surrounded by privately owned lands. Either of these situations may prevent the claimant from performing his assessment work within the specified period if he is unable to make satisfactory arrangements with the surface owners covering possible surface damage, or with the owners of the surrounding lands for a right-of-way. In either of these situations the obstructing party, being on the land without hindrance, will be in a preferred position to "jump" or relocate the claim himself. This bill should not be confused with H. R. 1754, which extended from July 1, 1949, to October 1, 1949, the time in which assessment work might be performed. H. R. 1754 granted a 3 months' temporary extension of time for doing asssessment work; H. R. 3754 is intended to correct a situation that has been plaguing legitimate producers of minerals in a certain area and could spread to others where State laws do not provide the right of eminent domain to mining companies. Some of the obstructions which have arisen are 1. Delays in making arrangements with surrounding surface owners due to contested titles, family squabbles, changes of ownership during negotiations, etc. 2. Delays in official approval of bonds to protect the owners of the surface of the claims. Such bonds are posted with the Bureau of Land Management, but the claimant may not enter until official approval has been received. The surface owner is entitled to protest the bond in several successive appeal actions, and by delaying tactics he may prevent the claimant from performing assessment or patenting work for many months. 3. Delays in causing legal condemnation of rights-of-way, which can be contested for a long time in the courts. 4. Delays in overcoming by court action the posting of "No trespassing" signs on roads which have been used by the public for many years but have never been declared public roads. At the suggestion of the Department of the Interior the committee has amended H. R. 3754 to provide that the accumulated work must be done not later than the end of the next assessment year after the deferment ends and in addition to the work for the latter year. This would make it permissible for the claimant, at his option, to do the deferred work before the end of the assessment year in which the deferment is terminated or the obstacle to performance removed. The committee also has eliminated a provision requiring that within 60 days after completion of deferred assessment work the claimant should file with the Secretary of the Interior a sworn statement itemizing deferred work performed or improvements made. Proof of labor performed always has been filed with the local officials and the committee believes that this practice should not be changed. In his report to the committee on this bill, the Secretary of the Interior stated: I have no objection to the enactment of this bill. The proposed bill would authorize the Secretary of the Interier, upon the submission of satisfactory evidence, to defer temporarily the annual assessment work requirement in certain contingencies which would make impossible the performance of assessment or mining work and would jeopardize the continued right to hold an unpatented mining claim. Thus, when a mineral claimant could not obtain access to the boundaries of the claim or was hindered from entering upon the surface of the claim by the adjoining landowners or holders of the nonmineral title, under the proposed legislation a deferment for not to exceed 2 years could be granted. The deferred assessment work would constitute an accumulating requirement and no part of it waived The Committee on Public Lands believes that this legislation would correct certain inequities in the present law and unanimously recommends its enactment. RELATING TO THE EXCHANGE OF CERTAIN PRIVATE AND FEDERAL PROPERTIES WITHIN THE AUTHORIZED BOUNDARIES OF ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, IN THE STATE OF MAINE APRIL 27, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. PETERSON, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4026) The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4026) relating to the exchange of certain private and Federal properties within the authorized boundaries of Acadia National Park, in the State of Maine, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL This bill would authorize the acceptance by the Federal Government from Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of approximately 58 acres of land within the authorized boundaries of Acadia National Park, Maine. In exchange therefor the Secretary of the Interior would be authorized to convey to Mr. Rockefeller, or such agency as Mr. Rockefeller may designate, for use by the Jackson Memorial Laboratory (a cancerresearch center), approximately 5 acres of land now a part of Acadia National Park and adjacent to the laboratory property. The value of the land to be received by the United States exceeds the value of the land to be conveyed. The exchange would be of mutual benefit to the Government in its administration of the park, and to the Jackson Memorial Laboratory in the expansion of its cancerresearch program. The Department of the Interior recommends that this bill be enacted. Pertinent comments from the Department's report are as follows: This bill would authorize the acceptance by the Federal Government from Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of approximately 58 acres of land within the au thorized boundaries of Acadia National Park. Such property would be acquired in exchange for approximately 5 acres of federally owned land within the park adjacent to the Jackson Memorial Laboratory at Bar Harbor, Maine. We recommend the enactment of this proposed legislation. This proposed exchange would be of mutual benefit to the Federal Government, in the administration of Acadia National Park, and to the Jackson Memorial Laboratory, in connection with its work on cancer research. The value of the land to be acquired by the Federal Government is greater than the land that would be conveyed in exchange for such property. We are advised, also, that the officials of the town of Bar Harbor, Maine, are agreeable to the exchange. Any additional expense to the Federal Government in effectuating the exchange and as a result thereof would be nominal. The enactment of H. R. 4026 is unanimously recommended by the Committee on Public Lands. RELATING TO THE EXCHANGE OF CERTAIN PRIVATE AND FEDERAL PROPERTIES WITHIN THE AUTHORIZED BOUNDARIES OF ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, IN THE STATE OF MAINE APRIL 27, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. PETERSON, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4026] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4026) relating to the exchange of certain private and Federal properties within the authorized boundaries of Acadia National Park, in the State of Maine, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL This bill would authorize the acceptance by the Federal Government from Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of approximately 58 acres of land within the authorized boundaries of Acadia National Park, Maine. In exchange therefor the Secretary of the Interior would be authorized to convey to Mr. Rockefeller, or such agency as Mr. Rockefeller may designate, for use by the Jackson Memorial Laboratory (a cancerresearch center), approximately 5 acres of land now a part of Acadia National Park and adjacent to the laboratory property. The value of the land to be received by the United States exceeds the value of the land to be conveyed. The exchange would be of mutual benefit to the Government in its administration of the park, and to the Jackson Memorial Laboratory in the expansion of its cancerresearch program. The Department of the Interior recommends that this bill be enacted. Pertinent comments from the Department's report are as follows: This bill would authorize the acceptance by the Federal Government from Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of approximately 58 acres of land within the au |