Know anything about mineral rights and trespass laws?

[NM_Shooter]

This will vary state to state, and I'm searching for a lawyer now, but wondered if anyone has any knowledge about this.

In order to access my ranch, I have easement through three other ranches.  One of which is owned by an old man who is difficult to deal with and is exhibiting signs of dementia.

He owns the mineral rights to our ranch, and has no surface ownership. 

He is now demanding access to our property, and wants the combinations to the gate locks. 

I'm trying to figure out what sort of rights are conveyed with mineral rights.  He has no lease to our property, just the legal mineral rights. 

It would seem odd that he would have legal access to my ranch to access whatever part for whatever reason he wants. 

Any thoughts?

[Redoverfarm]

Frank I don't have any specific information but maybe you can frind some answers at this site.

http://www.mineralrightsforum.com/

Just one section that may be pertinent.

http://www.mineralrightsforum.com/searchresults?q=Land%20owner%20rights

[rick91351]

He does not have a mine on the ranch does he?  Just mineral rights?  Are there claims on the property 

Mineral rights are not the same as a claim.  How did he gain mineral rights?

If you find mineral on someones property it does not give you the right to trespass.  Our friends have a ranch with a mine on their property.  They lease or rent a portion of that property and an easement to the mine, mill and road to the mine owner..... 

   

[hpinson]

Hey Frank. One question I would have is, are you sure he owns the mineral rights?

The County Clerk should be able to say definitively, and you might want to check that before going to a lawyer. A lot of New Mexico land subsurface rights are state or federal owned. In the case that he does own it, the County Clerks office should be able reference the mineral deed and specific statutes.  Then go look them up. The New Mexico Administrative Code is searchable: http://www.nmcpr.state.nm.us/nmac/  (click search - I would give you the direct link but it is down tonight).

If in fact he does own the rights [edit: he can access your land]. I guess that is where the lawyer would come in and a good understanding of the process. You may or may not be able to negotiate compensation for access, right of way, and damages as I understand.

EMNRD, The State Land Office, and the BLM have a good deal of information online (more at the office) and helped me determine that mineral rights under my land were Federally owned, including I believe a database and maps of ownership. This was not what I was told when I bought the land, but in fact turned out to be true.  Not necessarily a good thing, as any oil & gas company can probably do what they will given permits.

EMNRD OCD was useful to me for water rights and well logs.  I have active an inactive gas wells nearby:
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/OCD/ocdonline.html

You might find something here too at NMED:

http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/NMED/ToolsMaps.html

At some point I actually found and used a federal map of NM mineral right ownership online, but I can't located it now and have to go out. Some other good resources too that I will have to look for.

P.S. Any wellheads, watersheds, historical, or archeological sites need protecting on your land?  ;O)

[rick91351]

hpinson good observation surface claims and subsurface claims are not the same and are filed separately however can be filed on by the same party.  One claim for surface and one for subsurface same property. 

If you have mineral rights you do have the right to access. 

[hpinson]

I was just going to add that the County Clerk will, or at least should, have the Mineral Deed, which can be seen and copied.

A lot of these deeds are VERY murky in Northern New Mexico. It may not even exist.

[hpinson]

I've been reading a bit on split estate in New Mexico, as this applies to water and timber rights as well.

This is not legal advice -- just what I am finding reading various online documents:

In New Mexico:

-- Mineral estates generally take legal precedence over surface estates. 

-- The lions share of mineral rights in New Mexico are Federally or State owned, and can in many situations be leased by 3rd parties.

-- Private split estate ownership is deeded. My personal opinion, and I'm not a lawyer, is that proof of ownership or lease status would have to be provided before access is allowed.

-- The owner of the dominant estate (mineral in this case) has the right to access the surface estate.

-- The owner of the dominant estate can choose where roads, development, and mining/ drilling go. It could be in your front yard.

-- The owner of the surface estate does not need to agree to mineral exploration or development, but must be compensated to some degree for impact and damage.  What constitutes compensation, impact and damage seems to be quite variable/ arguable and the reality of such compensation is not impressive. The law favors the mineral right holder.

-- The surface rights owner may have to litigate any disputes.  The mineral developer may often have deeper pockets than the landowner in such litigation, and outcomes of litigated complaints correspond to that mismatch throughout the USA.

-- Certain New Mexico counties encourage mineral exploration and development, and even, like Rio Arriba County, have set up "Frontier Zones" with reduced legal and environmental restrictions.

-- Proximity of certain watershed, water source, agricultural, and historical resources may or may not have mitigating impact.

-- Other factors may be mitigating: safety, quality of life, community impact, past usage, impact on current use, inadequate compensation based on impact, inadequate restoration based on impact.