Macomb farmer Michael J. Vandenberg has asked St. Lawrence County for what he thinks he needs to keep his farm sustainable for the long term.

"I want to repurchase mineral rights that are owned by the county," Mr. Vandenberg told legislators Monday April 25, 2011. "The only reason I want the mineral rights back is to protect what's on the surface."

Mr. Vandenberg said he has artesian wells and valuable trees that he would not want disturbed if exploration of the mineral rights under his 99 acres was ever done.

A previous owner of the property lost the mineral rights to the county in 1984 for nonpayment of taxes.Mr. Vandenberg's property had separate deeds for the surface property and for the mineral rights.

"It's not uncommon at all," said Legislator Alex A. MacKinnon, R-Fowler.

Over the years, the county foreclosed on a number of mineral rights parcels when owners decided they did not want to pay taxes on what they considered rocks, Mr. MacKinnon said.

That was not as true in the southern part of the county, where the land under the surface contains minerals that were mined, such as zinc and talc.

The county's takeover of mineral rights was simpler in the past, when it acted by resolution rather than through the courts, a practice that ended at least a decade ago,Mr. MacKinnon said.

Whatever is done for Mr. Vandenburg should apply across the board, said Legislative Chairwoman Sallie A. Brothers, D-Norfolk.
The ownership of many mineral rights was separated from surface property in the 1880s when people recognized there was value underneath, Mrs. Brothers said.

"It was money in farmers' pockets to sell," she said.
Once sold, the mineral rights weren't as easy to track as the surface property. Some mining companies that held the rights went out of business.

"They got lost out there," Real Property Tax Office Director Darren W. Colton said. "It's really an individual search. It can cost a lot of money and rarely do people bother to see who owns them."

The county, which owns a significant amount of mineral rights, could not sell all of them even if it wanted. It has a lease with St. Lawrence Zinc to explore on 500 acres.

Legislators referred the matter to County Treasurer Kevin M. Felt, Mr. Colton and County Attorney Michael C. Crowe for recommendations.

The board last adopted a policy in 1997, when a Massena man wanted to purchase or lease the rights to 22,066 acres of land in the town of Clare.

At that time, the board agreed to offer surface owners the rights for the sum of back taxes and decided those not sold for back taxes were to be bundled and sold to the highest bidder.