This case is about public access across
patented federal mining claims in Ester, Alaska. Orth argued that
public access existed either by RS2477 or a public prescriptive
easement. The trail in question crossed 9 federal mining claims with
most of them having been located in 1903. Orth asserted that the
public required access for ATV use, snow machines, biking and hiking.
Largent was concerned about theft and liability as he was actively
working these claims. In the summer of 2012, Largent installed a gate
and lock to prevent public access. The case was filed by Orth in 2013,
but as a result of Covid and other issues, trial was delayed until
February of 2023. My project title references 2018 as that was when I
was contracted for expert witness services.
As I was nearing retirement and only working part time, this was my
first opportunity to spend the entire 2 week trial period as an
observer in the courtroom. It was an interesting experience as I had
previously worked with the judge and both attorneys, and I knew
several of the witnesses. Ultimately, the case was settled with no
judgement rendered and I never testified. In the settlement, Largent
agreed to construct a narrow public access trail along the southern
boundary of this mining claims. As a result of my expert report, Orth
dropped their claim of a public ROW by RS2477 as I was able to show
that the lands had been withdrawn prior to public use that would have
established a public RS2477 right-of-way.
The photo is of the Goldstream dredge operated by the Fairbanks
Exploration Co. and is similar to the dredge that operated along
Largent's claims in Ester. Modern mining techniques have allowed
additional gold recovery over the dredged lands. See the Document
Summary Link below for access to 113 files related to the case. It is
always surprising to me how a relatively small case can generate so
many court filings, and the ones I have presented are just the few
that I found interesting. The Orth v. Largent project was presented in
part at the 2025 ASPLS Conference in a session I titled "Cleaning Out
the Closet - Odds & Ends". This session contains a sub-set of
files that can be found in the Orth v. Largent project folder along
with a PowerPoint presentation converted to PDF. Click on the
following link for access: "Cleaning
Out the Closet".