There is a major issue going on with land on the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma. The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing the boundaries and evaluating properties that they believe legally belong to the Federal Government and/or tribes from Oklahoma. For discussion purposes here, the article doesn't mention the impact this may have on mineral rights. I checked the three counties mentioned for production adjacent to the river, and it does not appear that any active production is going on at the moment. Many other counties further East on the river do have production adjacent to the river though. As a mineral / land owner that may be involved in this situation where portions of your land may be taken, that has got to be a real nightmare. If your rights are transferred over to the BLM, will they be receiving the royalties from production, or will the BLM force the leases to cease activity? Has anyone else encountered similar situations? This is not condemnation or eminent domain.
"The federal agency is updating its resource management plan and has said up to 90,000 acres thought to be in Wilbarger, Wichita and Clay counties may be in Oklahoma, which would make it public land. Never mind that some farmers and ranchers, like McAlister, have records showing ownership for a century or longer."
Is the BLM "above" adverse possession? And, here is something I just "googled" on the Color of Title Act:
Re: Color of Title Act
The Color-of-Title Act provides that any individual, group, or corporation who has evidence giving the appearance of having title to public lands which are administered by the BLM, and legal title to the lands remains vested in the United States, may file a color-of-title claim. An applicant will receive a patent conveying clear title to the lands upon payment of the sale price of the lands if they meet the requirements for a class 1 or class 2 claim. In other words, the Act provides a way citizens can gain clear title to land they believed to belong to them.
Class 1 Claim - Public lands held in good faith and peaceful, adverse possession by a claimant in interest for a minimum of 20 years under claim or color of title, and upon which the claimant in interest have placed valuable improvements, or on which some part of the land has been reduced to cultivation. In other words, public lands in someone's possession for at least 20 years that they have improved through buildings or agriculture cultivation.
Class 2 Claim - Public lands held in good faith and peaceful, adverse possession by a claimant in interest under claim or color of title initiated no later than January 1, 1901, and for which the claimant in interest have paid State and local taxes from initiation of the claim to the date of application. Public lands someone believed was their's or their families where the family has paid taxes every year since 1901.
Personally I think it is wrong to have to buy back property you already paid for, paid taxes on, and have kept as your own for decades. The BLM should have figured out what land is theirs back in the 1920s when this agreement was reached. Coming back almost 100 years later and saying "oh by the way, we didn't realize your farm belongs to us" is just wrong. Color-of-title seems like an "honest" way to clear title, but it still is out of reason when the reality of "adverse possession" should trump any necessity to pay for property you already own.
the federal govenment and judicial system have favored large gas companies in gaining control of all of private landowners land for underground natural gas storage. there are only about 400 locations nationwide and large gas corporations have complete control of this valuable resource owned by provate landowners.
the federal govenment and judicial system have favored large gas companies in gaining control of all of private landowners land for underground natural gas storage. there are only about 400 locations nationwide and large gas corporations have complete control of this valuable resource owned by provate landowners. Hi, I am new to posting so here it goes..I was shocked at this new land grab,,I found out in Jan of 2014 That Gov. Perry has siged a House Bill724 83 Leg, that might clean up all un paid oil gas leases.Which to my understanding will go from now back to spanish land grant and crown grant.They will finish investigation and vote again in Jan..You have to wonder about all these changes..I am helping y family <Meaders, Meadows, Meadors , Medders. King.. Humphries Family,, they have un paid leases in Oklahoma conected to Glenn pool oil,Spindletop, Desdemona, Mexis,, And we have more..There was alot of corruption ..And alot of people got cheated!! If anyone has any Documents or anything on these family plase contact Me!! I have done alot of research and I beleve some of the pieces are still out there!!Thanks email lottolady59@yahoo.com