Desert Land Act

I heard about this Desert land act and I was wondering if anyone knows anyone or is either in the process of claiming or already claimed some land. I have been looking into it and there is land still available. they say I need to get the land surveyed. I am trying to find any land available that might already be surveyed in Nevada. They say getting the land surveyed can be pretty pricey. I don't have enough money for that. Most of this land is considered useless to conventional farmers but in the case of permaculture we could turn a desert landscape into a oasis. Any advice helps thanks in advance.

look for mining claims that were filed, then not followed up on.

they were typiclally staked, and you could use prior boundries as a previous property line. Might fulfill the spirit, if not the letter of the law.

look for ones that have old "drill holes' if you can, they say that about 90% of Nevada has oil or nat gas below.....

This might be a problem because they say you need to survey the land to make sure that there isn't timber or minerals or even oil. This land needs to be useless other then agriculture use.

if it was drilled, but not pumped, you can prob make the case that it didn't contain reserves....

for those of you who have replied have you tried this in Arizona?

No, but we re-filed our families first lot, which was part of a claim, (subdivided patent) as a "homestead", and it was only a quarter acre.

Now, you could file a mining claim up there, do the discovery work, and when you don't find any minerals, you could claim the area was without natural rescources, and file a Desert Act claim on it.
You can file more than 1 claim, so if you did, say 4 or 5 contacting each other up a valley, you could then just survey the outside boundries with a kid to help hold a GPS receiver. It is pretty straightforward now to survey with GPS.
Tho how you would get water to it in 3 years would be tough. Vegas is filing for every water ranch they can get. That is the idea of infilling up a valley, by the time you got to the mountain foothills, you might find a spring, or drill right at the cusp, and get water and natural gas.

There is a great article in the Elko? paper newspaper site, about a rancher that knew ALOT of the drillers that were working NV. He said almost every hole they drilled found oil. Then they capped every single one of them. They thought it was a racket to get all the land under the Desert Act, or as a nature reserve. Well a billionaire just did exactly that, and filed for a wild horse sanctuary/ nature reserve.
He is going to water ranch, to sell it to Vegas, and he certainly believes there is oil AND gold in there too.

A LOT of Arizona is fractured , or valley infill. There just isn't that much groundwater to tap into. There is huge subduction, and earth cracks between Phx and Tucson area's from pumping for Ag, and to water down the Ag soil to wash the salts out from farming.

Nevada's basin and range didn't seem to get broken up as much when California slammed into what is now the west coast, and stuck there. For a while.

Thomas Golds theory is that the entire area from the Colorado Plataue, to the black hills has gas and oil down there. just about every property in the middel of the country from the Smokies to the Cascades could drill a well and get gas, but the Ollagalla resivoir gets in the way of most.

Can you fill us in with what's going on here? Links to more information, other discussions, etc. Thanks.

Hi,

I just called the BLM on this to see if there's any more land available under this act. The nice lady on the other end of the phone said there may still be some in SW Idaho, but for that was a few years ago. All other land is either taken or doesn't qualify.

Here is some info.

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/lands/desert_land_entries.html

Order forms or get them from the BLM office.

http://www.formsinword.com/BLMbureauoflandmanagementformsinword.htm

Surveying may not be a problem. Most BLM land is already surveyed into Sections that measure 1 mile X 1 mile square. There are perminent markers at all of the corners that have been surveyed. Once you find the corner post it is really simple to measure off quarter sections and then quarter quarters.

The BLM people do not want you to claim this land. If all of the land is claimed... No more job for them , right? So keep after them to give you the forms. It took me several months of non stop visits to get my BLM person to even admit that I could do it and to finally give me the paperwork. They will not make it easy for you. I finally gave up and bought land.

So, I know this run is 4 years old. Any updates? any success?

Help a brother out please.

Sean

Sean, what state are you in? Have you contacted your local BLM folks about this? As I said above it is real ,but they do not want to help so you really have to work for it.

I live in NM, I am however looking to move to UT. Now on the basis of BLM land UT is like 2/3 BLM land. I have looked at maps.

My BLM office is an hour away. I would like to know if anyone has had success. If it is still legal, which it appears to be. I have noticed too, on Ebay there are a lot of tracts of land for sale that is 320-640 Acres.

So I assume it is still done, you just have to be clever.

So I finally after much digging found more info. Here is a Q&A:

What is the Desert Land Act?
   On March 3, 1877, the Desert Land Act was passed by Congress to encourage and promote the economic development of the arid and semiarid public lands of the Western United States. Through the Act, individuals may apply for a desert-land entry to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate arid and semiarid public lands.

Will it be difficult for are to find suitable public lands and meet the requirements of the Desert Land Act in order to receive legal title to the land?
   The public lands have been in the process of being settled for many years. Most of the suitable lands for agricultural development have already been placed into private ownership. The remaining acres are managed for multiple uses. There is competition among users for these public lands. With the problems of finding suitable public land, limited water available for irrigation, and the high cost of development, it is extremely difficult to acquire a desert land entry.

Is there a limit on acreage for which I may apply?
   You may apply for one or more tracts of land totaling no more than 320 acres.

Where me the lands located?
   The lands are located in the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

What lands are available?
   The lands must be surveyed, unreserved, unappropriated, non-mineral, non-timber, and incapable of producing an agricultural crop without irrigation. The lands must be suitable for agricultural purposes and more valuable for that purpose than for any other. The tracts of land must be sufficiently close to each other to be managed satisfactorily as an economic unit.

Who is qualified to file a desert-land entry?
   You must be a citizen of the United States or have declared your intention to become a citizen. You must be 21 years old. You must be a resident in the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming. No State residency is required in the State of Nevada.

How much will it cost me to construct an irrigation system?
   It is estimated that a 320-acre tract of land will cost you in excess of $250,000 to construct the irrigation system and prepare the land.

How do I get started to apply for a desert-land entry?
   You must find lands that you feel can be economically developed and determine the legal land description. You must contact the BLM State Office where the lands are located and verify that the lands are available for desert land application. If the lands are available for desert land application, acquire an application from the State Office and also find out which BLM District administers the lands.

How do I file an application?
   You must file an application on Form No. 2520-1. Two copies of this form are required. You must file the application with the administering BLM District Office.

What information must I include in my application?
   You must include the description of the lands. You must include evidence of your legal right to the use of water for irrigation. You must secure a permit from the State Department of Water Administration. You must include a detailed description of soil characteristics, irrigation requirements, and economic feasibility. You must include full disclosure of your plans, arrangements--financial and otherwise--pertaining to the development and operation of your desert-land entry. You must personally sign your application. Your application must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $15.00 and a partial payment of 25 cents per acre.

What will the BLM do with my application?
   The BLM will examine your application for completeness and accuracy, and classify the lands included in the application. The BLM will approve your application if the lands are classified suitable for desert-land entry. The BLM will reject your application if the lands are classified unsuitable for desert-land entry.

If my application is approved, how many years will I have to meet the requirements of the desert land act?
   You have four years from the date your application is approved to develop an adequate water supply to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate all of the lands. One eighth of the land applied for must be properly cultivated and irrigated.

Can a group of individual applicants develop a common water delivery system to reclaim the lands?
   Some public lands that might be suitable for desert-land entry are in areas where the cost of delivering water to the lands are so high than an individual applicant cannot establish an economic farm unit. With respect to some of these lands, individual farms within the 320-acre limitation of the Desert Land Act can be established where a group of applicants associate themselves to develop a common water delivery system and share in the cost of such a system.

If I associate myself with a group of individuals to develop a common water delivery system, what will I be required to do?
   You must spend your own money or incur a personal liability for the money you spend on the necessary reclamation, irrigation, and cultivation of the entry. You must show that the proposal has engineering feasibility. You must show that the proposal will be economically feasible. The soil conditions and other physical characteristics must support continued production under proper management. You must show that, even with the consideration of properly sharing joint costs, each individual desert-land entry involved in a group proposal is economically and physically feasible.

What is annual proof?
   Each year for three years from the date your application is approved, you must account for the money you spend on improvements to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate the lands.

How much money must I spend on improvements to reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate the entry for annual proof?
   You must submit statements of two credible witnesses who can testify to the expenditures made for improvements on your desert-land entry during the preceding year. You must submit itemized statements showing the manner in which the expenditures were made. At the end of the third year you must submit a map or plan showing the character and extent of the improvements placed on the desert-land entry.

If I fail to file for annual proof, what happens to my desert-land entry?
   The BLM will not extend your time to meet the annual proof of compliance because there are no provisions in the Act which permit extensions of time to complete work. The BLM will cancel your entry.

Will the BLM conduct an on-site examination of the lands in my desert-land entry to determine whether the requirements of the act have been met?
   Yes.

If I successfully meet the final proof requirement, what happens to my desert-land entry?
   You will receive a patent from the BLM which gives you legal title to the lands.

If I fail to make final proof, what happens to my desert-land entry?
   The BLM will cancel your entry, unless statutory authority permits the BLM to grant an extension of time or other relief.

If I experience an unavoidable delay in reclaiming and cultivating the lands, will the BLM extend my final proof?
   If you clearly show that failure to reclaim and cultivate the land within the four-year period was due to no fault of your own, the BLM may grant you an extension. If you failed to act or were unable to get financial backing to make the required development, the BLM cannot grant you an extension.


Here is the link to the BLM site.

https://www.blm.gov/nhp/landfacts/DesertLand.html

Please comment. Let me know what you think.

Sean

Sean, have you found a piece of land to try this on? Are you gonna try it?

Yes, I think I found a piece of land that qualifies. No I have not tried it. I do nit have the funds required to sink a well.