Witness Monument

A witness monument is a monument a locator sets near a corner of a mining claim when the corner itself cannot be marked where it truly lies, because the ground is too steep, too dangerous, or otherwise impracticable. It stands in for the true corner and is marked to show where that corner is.

Whether a witness monument is allowed at all is a matter of state law, not federal law. BLM's guidance says only that federal law requires claim boundaries to be "distinctly and clearly marked to be readily identifiable," and leaves the monument rules to the states. Of the twelve western states where most mining claims are located, six provide for a witness or offset monument and six do not.

States that provide for one

• Alaska: required. "Where it is impracticable to place a monument in its true position, a witness monument shall be erected and marked to indicate the true position of the corner or angle" (AS 27.10.030). The provision is in the lode section only.
• California: two rules. Where precipitous ground makes the true position impractical or dangerous, a witness monument may be erected as near to it as the ground permits. Where working the mining claim makes a monument impractical or dangerous to maintain, a witness monument shall be erected. Either way it is marked to identify the true position (PRC 3915).
• Colorado: a post falling on precipitous ground, where placing it is impractical or dangerous to life or limb, may be placed at the nearest practicable point, suitably marked (C.R.S. 34-43-107).
• Idaho: required. Where it is impracticable to place a monument or post in its true position, a witness monument shall be erected and marked to indicate the true position (Idaho Code 47-602). Applies to lode and placer claims.
• Nevada: where the proper placing of a monument is impracticable or dangerous to life or limb, it may be placed at the nearest point properly marked to designate its right place (NRS 517.030). The statute does not use the word "witness."
• Wyoming: a post or stone monument falling by necessity on precipitous ground, where placing it is impracticable or dangerous to life or limb, may be placed at the nearest point properly marked to designate its right place (W.S. 30-1-103).

States with no such provision

Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Their location statutes set out the monuments required at each corner and make no exception for a corner that cannot be reached. Anyone planning to rely on an offset in those states should get local legal advice first.

What the statutes have in common

• The trigger is the ground, not convenience. The wording is "impracticable," "impractical or dangerous," or "dangerous to life or limb." Dense brush, a long walk, or winter conditions are not named in any of these statutes.
• The witness goes as close as the ground allows. The statutes say "nearest point," "nearest practicable point," or "as near thereto as the nature of the ground will permit."
• It must be marked to show the true corner. None of the twelve statutes prescribes an exact format for that marking.

What the statutes do not settle

No statute here sets a maximum distance between a witness monument and the true corner, or says how many corners of one mining claim may be witnessed. A common field practice is to mark the witness with the corner it stands for and the bearing and distance to it, which answers both the statutory requirement and the question a later examiner will ask. That is practice, not a statutory rule.

Why it matters later

A witness monument is part of the record of how a mining claim was located. California requires the recorded notice to include a statement of the boundary markings and their character (PRC 3911), and its annual affidavit must state that the required monuments were in place (PRC 3913). In a conflict over ground, the location work on the ground is evidence. A witness that was set without the conditions the state requires, or in a state that makes no provision for one, is a weakness in the location.

Not the same as a survey witness corner

The public land survey also uses witness corners and bearing trees to perpetuate official survey corners. That is a surveying practice under federal rules. A witness monument on a mining claim is set by the locator under state location law.