Law Atlas
States
One reference page for each of the 50 states and D.C. on what its law says about unused severed minerals, forced pooling and surface damages. Each page names its sources, the date they were read and the questions a specialist would still need to settle.
Dormant mineral statute (18)
A statute under which an unused severed interest can lapse or be declared abandoned, subject to its conditions.
Prescription of nonuse (1)
Civil law prescription: certain mineral rights end after a period of nonuse unless interrupted.
Tax or work forfeiture (3)
An interest can be lost through unpaid taxes or a failure to work it, under a procedure the statute sets, such as a court petition or a tax sale.
Marketable title act (2)
A title act can cut off older recorded interests unless preserved; treatment of minerals varies.
Registration or claim rules (3)
Interests had to be, or must be, registered or claimed by deadlines the statute sets; loss follows only through the statute's own procedure, not a rolling nonuse clock.
Missing owner procedure (6)
A procedure for unknown or unlocatable owners, such as a trust or receivership, rather than lapse.
No such statute found (18)
A search of the official code found no statute of these kinds; the scope of the search is stated on the state page.
For the map, the full comparison table and downloads, see Mineral Rights by State.