BLM Land and Mineral Records

The Federal Government office with the most complete set of land and mineral records for Federal lands in a particular State is the BLM STATE OFFICE. The BLM State Office is also the only office in which the actual hard copy mining claim records are on file and available for public inspection. The Forest Service does not keep the official land and mineral records for the National Forests.

Federal land records include land status plats (i.e., Master Title Plats or MTP's), land survey notes, and mineral survey notes and maps. Mining claim records include the actual hard copy files, organized by mining claim serial number, and microfiche abstracts available in four separate formats. Formats for the microfiche include a geographic index by legal description, a claim name index, a claimant name index, and a BLM mining claim serial number index. Also, the BLM publishes a series of multicolored surface and mineral management maps (except for Alaska). These maps depict the ownership pattern of Federal lands. They may be purchased at most BLM offices.

You are encouraged to provide comments on the design and utility of these site materials. In the future a questionnaire will be included to solicit your comments, including need for specific types of additional information.