United States v. Billy Joe Bagwell Cynthia Bagwell

OVERVIEW

Billy Joe Bagwell, defendant/appellant, appeals a district court order evicting him from public land and declaring his mining claim invalid. Bagwell argues that he is entitled to possess and reside on the public land under federal mining law. The United States, plaintiff/appellee, asserts that Bag-well’s mining claim is invalid due to bad faith and that Bagwell therefore has no right to reside on public land. Bagwell’s appeal was timely, and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988). We affirm the district court’s order.

BACKGROUND

Since 1972, Billy Joe Bagwell has resided on 4.25 acres of the Angeles National Forest known as the Dora Day mill site. The mill site contained an abandoned residence and quartz reduction mill when Bagwell moved onto the land, and Bagwell occupies the land pursuant to a mill site claim under federal mining law. In 1979, a fire destroyed the mill and residence, and Bagwell resided off the mill site for the next fifteen months while rebuilding a residence on the site. After the new residence was completed, Bagwell returned to the mill site and rebuilt the mill from salvaged materials.

In the early 1980s, the United States Forest…