![]() So why did Congress get the BLM involved in mining claims? It’s been a long process but the story is pretty simple despite all the years it took to come up with the current “solution”. No executive department can create laws – they can only enforce laws passed by Congress. The DOI is an executive (Presidential) department created to carry out the laws as passed by Congress. The BLM is relatively new in American history and to this day it remains a Bureau of the Department of the Interior. It wasn’t until 1976 with the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that Congress gave the BLM any power beyond those already given to the General Land Office and the Grazing Service. ![]() The BLM was not formed by an Act of Congress it was put together as an administrative agency by the Secretary of the Interior to assist in the duties of the Department of the Interior (DOI). The Grazing Service just administers the public lands grazing allotments. The General Land Office just keeps land records. They do this through the General Land Office which has been around since 1812 and was assigned along with the Federal Grazing Service in 1946 to form the BLM. The primary duty of the BLM is to maintain a current and historical timeline of public land status. A little history about the BLM and mining claims might help understanding the BLM’s role in mining and how we got here. Even then the Mining Acts (laws) did not change. To begin with the BLM had no role in mining claims until 1976. The truth is a lot more interesting than those myths. I keep seeing prospectors looking to the BLM as if it’s an authority on mining or it’s the government agency that controls mining. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about the BLM’s role in mining.
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