Hiram B. Webb v. Manuel Lujan

ORDER

The memorandum for this case, filed February 28, 1992, is redesignated an opinion authored by Judge Poole.

Appellant Hiram B. Webb appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment upholding a decision of the United States Department of the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA). The IBLA determined that eleven of Webb’s mining claims were void because they failed to comply with the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) § 314, 43 U.S.C. § 1744 . This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I. FACTS

This case involves a series of mining claims situated near Phoenix, Arizona commonly referred to as the Turkey Track Granite Quarries. These lode claims arose at various times before 1973. On October 22, 1979, Webb filed with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) copies of the official record of all notices and the amended notices for the claims which had previously been filed in the office of the Maricopa County, Arizona Recorder. For seven of the claims Webb also filed copies of a “Notice of Intention to Hold Mining Claim Through Work and Possession,” which had likewise been filed with the county recorder some years…