Alex Wayne Bolt v. United States of America, U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Ptarmigan Co.

We consider whether the annual rec-ordation requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (“FLPMA”) are applicable to mining claims located within national parks.

I

Ptarmigan Company, Inc., is a corporation owned almost exclusively by Kirk Stanley. Ptarmigan owned a number of lode mining claims, the most valuable of which were the unpatented “Eambler Claims” in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve near Nabesna, Alaska.

Under section 314 of FLPMA, codified at 43 U.S.C. § 1744 , mining claims must be recorded annually with the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) “prior to December 31 of each year.” 43 U.S.C. § 1744 (a) (FLPMA § 314(a)). The Department of Interior has ruled that holders of mining claims in national parks must register annually with the BLM in the fashion required by FLPMA. See 36 C.F.E. § 9.5 (relying principally upon the Mining in Parks Act of 1976 (“MPA”) for statutory authority).

On December 30, 1982, Stanley traveled the 300 miles to Anchorage to file the required affidavit for 1982. (Unbeknownst to Stanley, the Secretary of the Interior had promulgated a rule that permitted the annual filing to be accomplished by mail postmarked…