And belong to the owners of the mineral estate, at least according to two of three judges on a Ninth Circuit panel, applying Montana property law.
Update: our New York colleague Mike Rikon has posted a much better summary of the case and the court’s rationale here. You have to read any post that includes the sentence, “The case reminded me of a New York case dealing with a Mastodon.” Oh yeah.
Murray v. BEJ Minerals, LLC, No. 16-35505 (9th Cir. Nov. 6, 2018)16-35506