Access, Rare Ii and Other Fables

This paper will update the several previous papers delivered at Institutes of the Foundation discussing right of access to public lands on the part of mineral explorers, developers and operators.

It will review how that right of access is faring under the present administration of the public lands and interpretations of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976,1 hereinafter called FLPMA, and examine the provisions of the statute and regulations affecting rightsof-way, the interpretation of the statute by the Solicitor and the applicability of other laws. It will outline several cases in the federal courts and before the administrative law judges which may be dispositive of some of the issues.