The federal government bought the ranch in 2007 for $5.3 million. But the purchase of the 5,200-acre parcel did not include mineral rights. Roger Lothspeich and his fiancee, Peggy Braunberger, spent almost five years proving they own the right to remove gravel and other surface minerals beneath the historic ranch land near Medora.
Lothspeich had proposed a 25-acre gravel mine less than a mile from Roosevelt’s historic cabin. He estimated the site holds some $10 million in high-grade gravel that could be sold for road building and other infrastructure needs in North Dakota’s booming Oil Patch.
“I’d like to get going here,” said Lothspeich, a North Dakota native who owns a motorcycle, snowmobile and ATV dealership in Miles City, Mont. “I want to sell gravel to oil companies.”
Sexton said the agency began collecting gravel samples in October at sites in western North Dakota. He said the samples have been sent to a lab to test the rock for erionite, an asbestos-like mineral that has been linked to lung cancer.
Sexton said the land swap will take time.
“I think (Lothspeich) is well aware that this is not the fastest process in the world,” Sexton said. “It would be real nice to find an area that has got what he wants so we can swap it out.”Not the fastest process in the world! Understatement.
My hunch: maybe the grandchildren will see a gravel pit.
The original post can be found here.
[Update, January 7, 2015: link here.]
I'm confused. Gravel is not included in mineral rights and belongs to the surface owner. Why is this an issue?
ReplyDeleteWhether gravel is considered a mineral for mineral rights may vary from state to state, but in this case, the gravel was a separate entity that was not included in the contract when the "surface" was sold to the US government.
Deletehttp://www.bhpioneer.com/local_news/article_7960de4e-feb7-11e1-8df6-0019bb2963f4.html
Personally, I believe that Teddy Roosevelt would be in favor of the gravel pit.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right, and I have given a fair amount of thought to that.
DeleteThere is no question that his time in that small part of North Dakota was a life-altering event for Teddy Roosevelt. He says as much in his writings.
There's a huge emotional component to decision making following a life-altering event. But in this case, we will never know.
Gravel belongs to surface owner? Is that provided by ND law? Just curious if someone knows a quick answer (consult with attorney for final answer of course).
ReplyDeleteThis will be a start:
Deletehttps://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/
https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/Mineral/nd_sandnew.asp
"Sand and gravel is the third largest mineral industry after oil and gas and lignite. "
The "Mineral Deed" requirements in North Dakota are also different from many states. When writing a mineral deed in Montana you can convey minerals of every nature by simply stating "all minerals". However, in ND you must specify exactly which minerals are being conveyed, ie... "coal, oil, natural gas, uranium," etc... Perhaps this quirk factors into this ranch sale, with "gravel" either being specifically conveyed, or not conveyed.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was going to say the same thing, but didn't want to go out on a limb. The fact that the surface owner knew exactly what was going on, regardless of what the law required, I "know" that the surface owner was very, very specific in the contract.
DeleteThank you for taking time to comment. I think you are exactly correct.
Sand, gravel, coal rights are normally held out of a land deed as well as other minerals... In North Dakota anyways
ReplyDeleteThat was my impression, but I did not know. That agrees with previous comments. Thank you.
Delete