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Nevada Law regarding Hollow-Pipe Mining-Claim Markers

In Nevada, the law says that mining claim owners must take down and remove hollow-pipe mining-claim markers from public lands on or before November 1, 2011, and if they don't, citizens are empowered to take them down. It is well past November 1, 2011, and therefore all hollow-pipe mining-claim markers on public lands are illegal and most likely abandoned. If you care about birds and other wildlife, join me in an effort to rid Nevada of this wildlife-killing scourge.

Illegal Mining Claim Markers
Since 2011, Nevada law empowers citizens to knock down markers

NRS 517.030 Monumenting of claim; required removal of plastic monuments.

1.  Within 60 days after posting the notice of location, the locator of a lode mining claim shall distinctly define the boundaries of the claim by placing a valid legal monument at each corner of the claim. A valid legal monument may be created by:

(a) Blazing and marking a tree, which has a diameter of not less than 4 inches, not less than 3 feet above the ground;

(b) Capping a rock in place with smaller stones so that the rock and stones have a height of not less than 3 feet; or

(c) Setting a wooden or metal post or a stone.

Illegal Mining Claim Markers
The law specifies that citizens leave marker on the ground

2.  If a wooden post is used, the dimensions of the post must be at least 1 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches by 4 feet, and the post must be set 1 foot in the ground.

3.  If a metal post is used, the post must be at least 2 inches in diameter by 4 feet in length and be set 1 foot in the ground. If the metal post is hollow, it must:

(a) Be securely capped or crimped in a manner that securely closes the top of the post; and

(b) Have no open perforations.

4.  If it is practically impossible, because of bedrock or precipitous ground, to sink a post, it may be placed in a mound of earth or stones. If the proper placing of a monument is impracticable or dangerous to life or limb, the monument may be placed at the nearest point properly marked to designate its right place.

Illegal Mining Claim Markers
Several old-dead and one fresh-dead Ash-throated Flycatcher

5.  If a stone is used which is not a rock in place, the stone must be not less than 6 inches in diameter and 18 inches in length and be set with two-thirds of its length in the top of a mound of earth or stone 3 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet in height.

6.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, a durable plastic pipe that was set before March 16, 1993, for the purpose of defining the boundaries of a lode mining claim shall be deemed to constitute a valid legal monument if:

(a) The pipe is at least 3 inches in diameter by 4 feet in length and is set 1 foot in the ground; and

(b) The pipe is securely capped with no open perforations.

Illegal Mining Claim Markers
Two live and one dead Side-blotched Lizards found in a pipe

7.  The locator of a lode mining claim located before March 16, 1993, the boundaries of which are defined by a durable plastic pipe described in subsection 6, or the locator's successor in interest, shall, on or before November 1, 2011, remove the durable plastic pipe and replace the monument of location and the corner monuments with valid legal monuments in the manner prescribed pursuant to subsection 1. If the locator or the locator's successor in interest replaces the durable plastic pipe on or before that date, the locator or the locator's successor in interest shall, within 60 days after the replacement, record a notice of remonumentation with the county recorder of the county in which the claim is located and pay the fee required by NRS 247.305. The notice must contain:

(a) The name of the claim;

(b) The book and page number or the document number of the certificate of location or the most recent amendment to the certificate of location;

(c) The book and page number or the document number of the map filed pursuant to NRS 517.040; and

Illegal Mining Claim Markers
Dead Western Pipistrelle Bat

(d) A description of the monument used to replace each monument that is removed.

The notice may include more than one claim. Any durable plastic pipe that is removed pursuant to this subsection must be taken from the lode mining claim and disposed of in a lawful manner.

8.  After November 1, 2011, any durable plastic pipe that is not removed pursuant to subsection 7 may be removed and placed on the ground immediately adjacent to the location from which it is removed to preserve evidence of its use as a monument for the lode mining claim.

Illegal Mining Claim Markers
Dead Tenebrionid beetles and Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion

9.  The replacement of a durable plastic pipe or the recording of a notice pursuant to subsection 7 does not:

(a) Amend or otherwise affect the legal validity of the claim for which the monuments were created;

(b) Modify the date of location of the claim; or

(c) Require the filing of an additional or amended map pursuant to NRS 517.040. [Part 2:89:1897; A 1899, 93; 1901, 97; 1907, 418; RL § 2423; NCL § 4121]—(NRS A 1971, 2197; 1985, 1495; 1993, 24, 25; 1995, 119, 121; 2009, 829)

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
copyright; Last updated 240330

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