Public Land vs. Public Domain

[M.E.G.]

Hal Anthony on Public Land vs. Public Domain

 

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[Clay Diggins]

From Sam D. Rawson, Appellant, v. United States of America 225 F.2d 855 (9th Cir. 1955):

Appellant predicates his claim of right to make the mineral location in part upon verbiage of Title 30 U.S.C.A. § 22, enacted in 1872, authorizing mineral entries on "lands belonging to the United States". Prior to this enactment mineral lands were subject to disposition under the Act of July 26, 1866, 14 Stat. 251, which relates to "the mineral lands of the public domain". The legislative history of the 1872 Act affords no grounds for believing that the variance in verbiage from the earlier statute has any present significance. The contrary, indeed, appears to be the case. Representative Sargent who fathered the 1872 bill and was in charge of it in the House said that "the bill does not make any important changes in the mining laws as they have heretofore existed. It does not change in the slightest degree the policy of the Government in the disposition of the mining lands." Cong. Globe, 42nd Congress, 2d Sess., p. 534.4

However this may be, debate on the point would appear to be foreclosed by the holding of the Supreme Court in State of Oklahoma v. State of Texas, 1922, 258 U.S. 574, 599-600, 42 S.Ct. 406, 416, 66 L.Ed. 771, where the Court, after quoting the relevant provision of the 1872 Act, said: "This section is not as comprehensive as its words separately considered suggest. It is part of a chapter relating to mineral lands which in turn is part of a title dealing with the survey and disposal of `The Public Lands.' To be rightly understood it must be read with due regard for the entire statute of which it is but a part, and when this is done it is apparent that, while embracing only lands owned by the United States, it does not embrace all that are so owned. Of course, it has no application to the grounds about the Capitol in Washington or to the lands in the National Cemetery at Arlington, no matter what their mineral value; and yet both belong to the United States. And so of the lands in the Yosemite National Park, the Yellowstone National Park, and the military reservations throughout the Western States. Only where the United States has indicated that the lands are held for disposal under the land laws does the section apply; and it never applies where the United States directs that the disposal be only under other laws."

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[Clay Diggins]

Legal Definitions:

43 U.S. Code § 1702 PUBLIC LAND LAWS
Definitions
(e) The term “public lands” means any land and interest in land owned by the United States within the several States and administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management, without regard to how the United States acquired ownership, except—
(1) lands located on the Outer Continental Shelf; and
(2) lands held for the benefit of Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved
Public Lands
Land that is owned by the United States government.
Public land refers to the public domain, unappropriated land belonging to the federal government that is subject to sale or other disposal under general laws and is not reserved for any particular governmental or public purpose.


West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved
Public Domain
Land that is owned by the United States. In Copyright law, literary or creative works over which the creator no longer has an exclusive right to restrict, or receive a royalty for, their reproduction or use but which can be freely copied by the public.


West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved
Domain
The complete and absolute ownership of land. Also the real estate so owned. The inherent sovereign power claimed by the legislature of a state, of controlling private property for public uses, is termed the right of eminent domain.

National domain is sometimes applied to the aggregate of the property owned directly by a nation. Public domain embraces all lands, the title to which is in the United States, including land occupied for the purposes of federal buildings, arsenals, dock-yards, and so on, and land of an agricultural or mineral character not yet granted to private owners.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved
Grant
To confer, give, or bestow. A gift of legal rights or privileges, or a recognition of asserted rights, as in treaty.

In the law of property, the term grant can be used in a deed to convey land, regardless of the number and types of rights conferred or the promises made by the transferor to the transferee. It is a comprehensive term that encompasses more specific words of transfer, such as assign, bargain, and devise.

A public land grant is a conveyance of ownership or other rights and privileges in publicly owned property to members of the general public who come under the qualifications of the statute that makes the land available. Such a grant is ordinarily noted in a public record, such as a charter or patent. In order to properly trace the ownership of property, it is sometimes necessary to determine each successive owner following the first grant.

A private grant is a grant of public land by a public official to a private individual as a type of reward or prize.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary 1856 Edition
Grant
conveyancing, concessio. Technically speaking, grants are applicable to the conveyance of incorporeal rights, though in the largest sense, the term comprehends everything that is granted or passed from one to another, and is applied to every species of property. Grant is one of the usual words in a feoffment, and differs but little except in the subject-matter; for the operative words used in grants are dedi et concessi, "have given and granted."

2. Incorporeal rights are said to lie in grant and not in livery, for existing only in idea, in contemplation of law, they cannot be transferred by livery of possession; of course at common law, a conveyance in writing was necessary, hence they are said to be in grant, and to pass by the delivery of the deed.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary 1856 Edition
Letters Patent
The name of an instrument granted by the government to convey a right to the patentee; as, a patent for a tract of land; or to secure to him a right which he already possesses, as a patent for a new invention or discovery; Letters patent are a matter of record. They are so called because they are not sealed up, but are granted open. Vide Patent.

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[Hefty1]

Here we go again.....the point of this is?

 

[M.E.G.]

Behind The Woodshed Blogcaster – April 19, 2015.

43 CFR Subpart 3809: Surface Managment

Behind The Woodshed Blogcaster ? April 19, 2015 | Real Liberty Media

 

[Hefty1]

Each western state also received federal "public land" as trust lands designated for specific beneficiaries, which the States are to manage as a condition to acceptance into the union. Those trust lands cannot any longer be considered public lands as allowing any benefits to the "public" would be in breach of loyalty to the specific beneficiaries. The trust lands (two sections, or about 1,280 acres (5.2 km[SUP]2[/SUP]) per township) are usually managed extractively (grazing or mining), to provide revenue for public schools. All states have some lands under state management, such as state parks, state wildlife management areas, and state forests.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Supreme Court FRISBIE v. WHITNEY 1869

When all these prerequisites are complied with, and the claimant has paid the price of the land, he is entitled to a certificate of entry from the register and receiver; and after a reasonable time, to enable the land officer to ascertain if there are superior claims, and if in other respects the claimant has made out his case, he is entitled to receive a patent, which for the first time invests him with the legal title to the land.

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[M.E.G.]

http://www.jeffersonminingdistrict.com/exec.pdf