United States Bureau of Land Management Energy and Minerals Technical Assistance Program

In summary, there are several characteristics that define private, public, and common land and mineral rights. These are:

• Individuals, singly or collectively, may acquire exclusive ownership rights to parcels of land;

• Individuals, singly or collectively, may acquire exclusive ownership rights to parcels of minerals;

• Parcels of land and associated minerals may be owned by the same owner, or by a different owner;

• Superior rights clarifications between surface and subsurface owners are determined by state or local laws or by negotiation between parties;

• Public land and minerals may be owned by National, state, or local bodies of government;

• Public Land may also exhibit severed land and mineral rights;

• Public land is land owned in common by all of the citizens of that body;

• Public land will likely be interspered with private land on the surface and separate minerals rights in the subsurface;

• A highly developed and routinized system of cadastral and related surveys and supporting records provides the necessary infrastructure to support these property systems;

• Air, water, cultural resources, migratory fish and wildlife, endangered species, are examples of common property resources; These common property resources are considered owned by all for the benefit of all, often with global dimensions; Contemporary concerns regarding the sustainability of all property values focuses on the management of common property resources.

As an introductory tutorial on property rights and processes in the United States there are many possible avenues for additional discussion. Please see the reference at the bottom of each web page for ways in which you can make suggestions or requests for additional information.

A companion tutorial giving a brief summary of the structure for energy and minerals management in the United States is also provided.