; 16 U.S.C. 515 ), and the Forest Service has taken the position that the mineral rights that were reserved when the lands were acquired by the United States in 1935 do not include the right to surface mine as proposed by Poly Met. (8) Due to the incompatibility between National Forest management objectives and Poly Met’s intended mining operations, in the absence of a land exchange, the Forest Service is not willing or able to authorize such private, surface mining operations on lands of the Superior National Forest. (9) Poly Met disagrees with the Forest Service position and argues that the mineral rights it seeks to utilize provide for access to the minerals by any mining method, including open pit or surface mining. (10) This fundamental conflict raises the possibility of litigation between Poly Met and the Forest Service that has no certain outcome and could set an adverse judicial precedent, not only for the 6,650 acres of Federal land, but also for other lands owned by the United States that were acquired under the authority of section 6 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks Law