Jackson v. Burlington Northern Inc.

The Seventh Judicial District Court, in and of the State of Montana, entered an order quieting title to certain property situated in Richland County, Montana, in plaintiffs, Alice E. Jackson, et al., (the Jacksons). Defendant Burlington Northern, Inc., (BN) appeals. We affirm.

A question of first impression is presented to this Court, viz., whether a severed mineral estate bordering a navigable waterway is subject to the doctrines of accretion and/or erosion?

The term “accretion” describes (1) a process by which land is formed by imperceptible degrees upon the bank of a river or stream, either…