Just checked the Land Matters site out, it list all the claims filed in a particular section, NE, SE, NW, SW etc.. but does not actually show a map of the claim locations. Does a person have to go to their local recorders office to find the actual claim maps? I like that you can find if there are claims in a section, that helps, but it sure would be nice if the claim locations were mapped out.
There is no current source of claims mapping - there never has been and probably never will be. I map claims in my commercial business and there is no way to map all the claims in the United States. I can map out about 200 claims a week. There are 100s of thousands of claims in the US. The vast majority of those claims are made by metes and bounds (distance and direction) so automatically mapping claims is impossible.
You would need to visit your County Recorders records anyway. The BLM informational filing that creates the Land Matters claims map is just one of the steps needed to make a claim. If the claimant didn't make a public record of their claim at the recorders office they don't have a mining claim. You would be surprised how often people don't bother to make their required public record. One of the GPAA's most popular claims in California has never been publicly recorded.
Another problem you will run into is the public Location Notice record at the County Recorder's doesn't match the BLM informational filing (very common). People bend over backwards to please the BLM with multiple filings but don't make changes to their public record at the County Recorder's. Another common problem is that the BLM will enter the TRS location wrong. These errors are anywhere from a mile off to more than 800 miles in the case of some claims in South Dakota.
The BLM doesn't keep a "record" that can be legally relied on. The only true record a court will rely on is a Conformed or Certified County Recording. The BLM won't give a hoot if you commit mineral trespass or make a claim over valid location because their files were wrong. In other words just checking at the BLM does not meet your legally required "due diligence" when entering the public lands to prospect or mine.
On the
Land Matters claims maps there is a layer "County Recorders" that will display the County lines and when you click the map while in information (
i) mode provides a link to that County Recorder's office and another link to their file search if they have one. More and more Counties are making their records a direct download from their site - often for free.
The tools are there. It's much easier now to do the research than it was in 1872 but the requirement to do that research has not changed. Be happy you didn't try this 35 years ago. I used to spend way too much time pulling records from the County stacks or going blind trying to read microfiche in a busy office. Even so I had it a lot easier that miners 35 years before that.
Enjoy the tools at Land Matters. They give you the best start ever available for doing claims research online and they are getting better all the time. We make it as easy as possible and we will continue to try to make it easier but you will always have to do your own research to back up what you learn there.
Heavy Pans
