[Rockhounds] Fossils - Is Ownership Governed by Surface Rights or Mineral Rights ?

[Paul]

This is an interesting legal battle about whether surface rights or 
mineral rights determines fossil ownership.

Fight over dinosaur fossils comes down to what’s a mineral
  By Amy Beth Hanson, AP, Washington Post, November 16, 2018
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fight-over-dinosaur-fossils-comes-down-to-whats-a-mineral/2018/11/16/6025a23a-e9e7-11e8-8449-1ff263609a31_story.html

The article states:

"Ownership of two fossilized dinosaur skeletons found on a
Montana ranch in 2006 are the subject of a legal battle over
whether they are part of a property’s surface rights or mineral
rights. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued  a split
decision saying fossils are minerals under mineral rights laws."

Yours,

Paul H.