Location Certificates, Claim Jumper Options

[Gold Hill Miner]

I have a mess. BLM did a meets and bounds survey in my area and changed my property lines after 150 years. I have been on the same claims for over 26 years. In the last year I have uncovered every original property marker according to my deeds from the 1800's. Someone intentionally obliterated all of them. Now that same person is trying to prevent me from getting any corrections with violence. BLM recorded no evidence of almost all of them in their survey in 2003. They reset markers. After a year and a half of trying to figure out what happened I realized I just had to prove my shafts and tunnels to the mines have not moved. I own 3 seperate pieces of property. On 2 of those properties I own the mineral rights and the surface rights. On one I own all the mineral rights and only some of the surface rights. If I fix the one with the partial surface rights all the rest will fall back into place. My question is, do I just need the location certificates to get BLM to make the correction. Surveyors say" BLM changed your property lines now live with it." No one will pay any attention to the mine shafts and tunnels which I do not understand. The claim jumping started around 2001. I would not have noticed but the whole area burned in the Fourmile Fire including my home and all my land. When I came home to rebuild my lines had moved. In Boulder County you can encroach on someones land for 18 years and then it is yours. The fire happened only 10 years after the encroachment started. The claim jumper figured I would never know. I still have time to fix this. Boulder County had the location certificates and everything measures correctly according to the certificates and plats according to my property description. Do I need new ones? BLM has now given the claim jumper our property without verifying the shafts, tunnels and location certificates. The claim jumper had 4 structures in trespass on one claim and moved his property lines so he would not have to purchase his trespass issues. No one at Boulder county will help and BLM wants me to file a protest against their 2003 meets and bounds survey. BLM also pinned my horseshoe pit pins almost 100' away from the real line. Help! Even lawyers want me to file quiet title actions in federal court. BLM says they have no money to fix anything and I am just getting a run around.

[Gold Hill Miner]

I want to extend a huge thank you to Gene Kooper! Your guidance has been invaluable. i did send a personal message, please let me know if you did not get it. Also please feel free to post it.

I have without a doubt proved there has been a major mistake in my section, township & community with a cadastral survey. The BLM and whatever subcontractors worked on this survey, were duped. Someone definitely tampered with the survey process as it was happening. They rotated their claim 75' leaving control points in tact at the other end of their claim

During my 5 years of trying to correct this issue, I found it very difficult to explain to my surveyors that I needed an updated Location Certificate and plat, for BLM to see, they pinned a mining claim in the wrong place. I found they were always looking at obliterated monuments, tunnels and shafts at the correct former location. With Gene Kooper's advise that a certain claim was key, I crawled on my hands and knees around the shafts and tunnels of the new BLM position of the claim in question. I was able to find the original markers, tunnels and cabin sites that belonged to 3-4 other claims. I am able to show the claim I own part of, now overlaps different claims then it should. Connecting plats and Gene's key advise is what did it. By requesting a location verification, I assumed my surveyors would plat every every shaft, tunnel, gulch & corner at the new location. I had to go find it all myself. No more stalling. Now I have had to put 24hr surveillance at the site, because almost every monument I have recovered for 5 years, was covered by down trees or intentionally obliterated.

I believe there are many conflicts of interest with the county, surveyors, trail building plans, acquisitions & a failure of follow-up on this cadastral survey by BLM. I would like to know if there were subcontractors other than BLM that set the new monuments and who was supposed to follow up on the accuracy of placement.

For anyone out there dealing with a claim jumper; remember a claim jumper can not move the shafts and tunnels. They are recorded and easy to find if you know what you are looking for. Even unpatented claims in the area are full of information.

It was recorded in this BLM cadastral survey, 60 claim corners not monumented, 202 claim intersections not monumented and then how they were recreated. If the claim jumpers claim is restored to its accurate position, almost all 60 claim corner and intersection monuments will be found. Some are obliterated and some have trees over them.

Hopefully I will finally have my plat in hand shortly, get reimbursed for 5 years of hard work, get all my claims back in place and get my driveway back! I am hopeful for a peaceful resolution, without a lengthy court battle.

Thank You Gene Kooper,
Gold Hill Miner

[Gold Hill Miner]

[quote name='Gold Hill Miner' date='Nov 21 2016, 12:14 PM' post='44643']
I want to extend a huge thank you to Gene Kooper! Your guidance has been invaluable. i did send a personal message, please let me know if you did not get it. Also please feel free to post it.

I have without a doubt proved there has been a major mistake in my section, township & community with a cadastral survey. The BLM and whatever subcontractors worked on this survey, were duped. Someone definitely tampered with the survey process as it was happening. They rotated their claim 75' leaving control points in tact at the other end of their claim

During my 5 years of trying to correct this issue, I found it very difficult to explain to my surveyors that I needed an updated Location Certificate and plat, for BLM to see, they pinned a mining claim in the wrong place. I found they were always looking at obliterated monuments, tunnels and shafts at the correct former location. With Gene Kooper's advise that a certain claim was key, I crawled on my hands and knees around the shafts and tunnels of the new BLM position of the claim in question. I was able to find the original markers, tunnels and cabin sites that belonged to 3-4 other claims. I am able to show the claim I own part of, now overlaps different claims then it should. Connecting plats and Gene's key advise is what did it. By requesting a location verification, I assumed my surveyors would plat every every shaft, tunnel, gulch & corner at the new location. I had to go find it all myself. No more stalling. Now I have had to put 24hr surveillance at the site, because almost every monument I have recovered for 5 years, was covered by down trees or intentionally obliterated.

I believe there are many conflicts of interest with the county, surveyors, trail building plans, acquisitions & a failure of follow-up on this cadastral survey by BLM. I would like to know if there were subcontractors other than BLM that set the new monuments and who was supposed to follow up on the accuracy of placement.

For anyone out there dealing with a claim jumper; remember a claim jumper can not move the shafts and tunnels. They are recorded and easy to find if you know what you are looking for. Even unpatented claims in the area are full of information.

It was recorded in this BLM cadastral survey, 60 claim corners not monumented, 202 claim intersections not monumented and then how they were recreated. If the claim jumpers claim is restored to its accurate position, almost all 60 claim corner and intersection monuments will be found. Some are obliterated and some have trees over them.

Hopefully I will finally have my plat in hand shortly, get reimbursed for 5 years of hard work, get all my claims back in place and get my driveway back! I am hopeful for a peaceful resolution, without a lengthy court battle.

Thank You Gene Kooper,
Gold Hill Miner
[/quote



How long should it take a surveyor to plat one 1500'x150' claim, showing the 4 corners, tunnels, shafts and monuments inside?