§401. (a) In order to provide for the immediate and future protection of
the lands in Federal ownership within the framework of a program of multiple
use and sustained yield and for the maintenance of environmental quality, the
Steese National Conservation Area is hereby established.
(b) The Steese National Conservation Area shall include approximately one
million two hundred twenty thousand acres of public lands, as generally
depicted on the map entitled "Steese National Conservation Area proposed" and
dated October 1978. Special values to be considered in planning and management
of the area are: caribou range and Birch Creek.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
§402. (a) Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary, through the
Bureau of Land Management, shall administer the Steese National Conservation
Area established in §40l pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 dealing with the management and use of
land in Federal ownership, and shall, within five years of the date of
enactment of this Act, develop a land use plan for each such area, and for the
area established in §403.
(b) No public lands within the national conservation area shall be
transferred out of Federal ownership except by exchange pursuant to §206 of
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Where consistent with the land use
plans for the area, mineral development may be permitted pursuant tn the
Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, and supplemented (30 U.S.C. 181-287)
or the Materials Act of 1947, as amended (30 U.S.C. 601-603). Subject to valid
existing rights, the minerals in Federal lands within national conservation
areas are hereby withdrawn from location, entry, and patent under the United
States mining laws (30 U.S.C. 22-54). Where consistent with the land use plan
for the area, the Secretary may classify lands within national conservation
areas as suitable for locatable mineral exploration and development and open
such lands to entry, location, and patent under the United States mining laws
(30 U.S.C. 22-54).
(c) Subject to valid existing rights, all mining claims located within any
such unit shall be subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may
prescribe to assure that mining will, to the maximum extent practicable, be
consistent with protection of the scenic, scientific, cultural, and other
resources of the area and any patent issued after the date of enactment of
this Act shall convey title only to the minerals together with the right to
use the surface of lands for mining purposes subject to such reasonable
regulations as the Secretary may prescribe as aforesaid.
ESTABLISHMENT OF WHITE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
§403. There is hereby established the White Mountains National Recreation
Area containing approximately one million acres of public lands, as generally
depicted on the map entitled "White Mountains National Recreation Area
proposed", and dated October 1978. Subject to valid existing rights, the
Secretary shall administer the area in accordance with the provisions of §1312 and other
applicable provisions of this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, and other applicable law. In planning for the recreational use and
management of this area, the Secretary shall work closely with the State of
Alaska.
RIGHTS OF HOLDERS OF UNPERFECTED MINING CLAIMS
§404. (a) The term "unperfected mining claim" as used in this section,
means a mining, claim which is located on lands within the boundaries of the
White Mountains National Recreation Area or Steese National Conservation Area
established pursuant to this title with respect to which a valid mineral
discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States, was not
made as of the date of the withdrawal of such area from further appropriation
under the mining laws of the United States.
(b) MORATORIUM ON CONTEST PROCEEDINGS.--Any holder of an unperfected mining
claim seeking to protect such claim pursuant to this section must have
maintained and must continue to maintain such claim in compliance with
applicable Federal and State laws, and where applicable, must have obtained
and complied with any mining access permit requirements imposed by the
Department of the Interior during the 1979 mining season. Prior to September
30, 1982, no unperfected mining claim which has been maintained in accordance
with this subsection shall be contested by the United States for failure to
have made a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of
the United States: Provided, That such claim shall be diligently prosecuted
during this moratorium on contest proceedings as a condition for the
moratorium. Any mining operation undertaken pursuant to this subsection,
including but not limited to exploration, development, and extraction, shall
be subject to such reasonable regulations as the Secretary may prescribe to
assure that such operations will, to the maximum extent practicable, be
consistent with protection of the scenic, scientific, cultural, and other
resources of the Steese National Conservation Area or the White Mountains
National Recreation Area or any affected conservation system units established
or expanded by this Act.
(c) VALID MINERAL DISCOVERY.--If the holder of an unperfected mining claim
notifies the Secretary by filing an application for a patent that, as a result
of mining operations in compliance with the requirements of subsection (b), he
has made a valid mineral discovery on such claim within the meaning of the
mining laws of the United States, and if the Secretary determines that such
claim contains a valid mineral discovery, the holder of such claim shall be
entitled to the issuance of a patent only to the minerals in such claim
pursuant to the mining laws of the United States. The holder of such a patent
shall also be entitled to the use of so much of the surface estate of the
lands comprising the claim as may be necessary for mining purposes: Provided,
That all mining operations conducted upon a claim after such a valid mineral
discovery has been made, shall be in accordance with such reasonable
regulations as may be issued by the Secretary pursuant to the authority
granted in subsection (b) of this section.
(d) VALIDITY DETERMINATION.--If an application for a patent is filed by the
holder of an unperfected mining claim pursuant to subsection (c) or if a
contest proceeding is initiated by the United States after September 30, 1982,
the validity of each claim shall be determined as of the date of the patent
application or September 30, 1982, whichever is earlier. The holder of an
unperfected mining claim not subject to a patent application filed prior to
September 30, 1982, shall submit to the Secretary within one hundred and
eighty days after such date all mineral data compiled during the contest
proceeding moratorium which would support a valid mineral discovery within the
meaning of the mining laws of the United States. Failure to submit such data
within the one-hundred-and-eighty-day period shall preclude its consideration
in a subsequent determination of the validity of each affected claim. Except
as specifically provided for in this section, nothing shall alter the criteria
applied under the general mining laws of the United States to adjudicate the
validity of unperfected mining claims.
(e) ACCESS TO CLAIMS.--Pursuant to the provisions of this section and §1110 of this Act,
reasonable access shall be granted to an unperfected mining claim for purposes
of making a valid discovery of mineral until September 30, 1982.
(f) PREFERENCE RIGHTS.--The holder of any unperfected mining claim which
was, prior to November 16, 1978, located, recorded, and maintained in
accordance with applicable Federal and State laws on lands located within the
boundaries of the Steese National Conservation Area, or the White Mountains
National Recreation Area established by this title, shall be entitled during a
two-year period after the date that the Secretary exercises his authority
under §402 or §1312 to open an
area containing such claim to mining, (1) to a preference right to rerecord
his claim under applicable law and to develop such claim under §402 or (2) to
obtain a lease to remove nonleasable minerals from the claim under §1312.