• If you are being asked to change your password, and unsure how to do it, follow these instructions. Click here

Corner crossing case

That is good news. There should be a common sense solution to access to public land. The hard part is determining the air space above the private land. Roads that were traditionally used to cross private land for access to public land and then closed when the land is sold now locking the public out of the public land is also troubling. Someday we will all have hover boards and not touch the private land. That also doesn't give anyone the right to hover around someone's property and claim no damage was done because you didn't touch it.

I think there should be easements granted to the public for access to public lands at logical points of access. This should be able to be done on a case by case basis. Considering all the money we waste, I think we could afford to install permanent ladders at corners and proper gates and cattle guards at road crossing access points.
 
I think we just need a set of guidelines surrounding how to cross corners. Those landowners really showed their hand with the $7M damage claim from stepping through their air space!

I feel like logical guidelines could be established by the US Government with just a little bit of study.

i get the you can't walk through a persons yard, but 90% of these corners are distant from roads, houses and often times have no marker at all, except by gps.
 
Last edited:
Well if it's public land, it needs public access. Period. Land bought in a checkerboard type of sense should not be allowed to lock out access to the public. It was obviously well thought out way back whenever to buy land that way to control it. Best win for everyone would be if the land owner and Fed's could work a deal to swap portions to make the land continuous and not checkered but that's a long shot. But every state has different laws. Ultimately the public is going to win this. The land owner killed his own chances of maintaining control. Most places I've been have access and easement laws and now that this is being highlighted, they'll be coming west in time. I am a firm believer in keeping off private if you don't have permission and the land owner should have right to do with their property as they want. But the public is the land owner in half this mess so they should get to access what's theirs.
 
And the air space argument is ridiculous, how high does that go? Yeah no one should be hovering a drone over anyone's home or property recording and doing whatever but has the guy complained about airplanes and helicopters flying over? It's basically a lawyers way of trying to find a way to make an argument to get a judge to side with the rich land owner. But surely there's a limit right? …. Sorry for the rant but greediness is going to be the end of us all.
 
My promise to all you hunters that roam the west. If I ever win the lottery and end up with 22,000 acres in prime hunting country and you have to cross the corner to get to public land, I will build you a staircase with one of those electric lift chairs to ride you across and put a snack cabinet on either side!
 
Last edited:
And the air space argument is ridiculous, how high does that go? Yeah no one should be hovering a drone over anyone's home or property recording and doing whatever but has the guy complained about airplanes and helicopters flying over? It's basically a lawyers way of trying to find a way to make an argument to get a judge to side with the rich land owner. But surely there's a limit right? …. Sorry for the rant but greediness is going to be the end of us all.
My take is that this is a rich landowner who went to lawyers to get it stopped, so of course the lawyer is going to come up with everything he possibly can- it's money in his pocket!
I'm glad common sense ruled so far, but unfortunately I doubt this is the last we'll hear of this.

I agree with others, in that there should be a way to provide the public access to the land that the public owns without infringing on the private landowners property.
 
There are lots I mean lots of landowners in the west that lease their lands for hunting while holding BLM and forestry land hostage behind their land. These landowners then not only can lease their land but in fact can lease out the government land also de-facto. All public land ought to have easement to it even if it is through private land. It took a supreme court ruling to allow public access to government lands that ranchers have an exclusive lease on in perpetuity that they pay for a few dollars a year. Gun owners and sportsman number in the millions in this country but we still have the government placating to a small number of rich people and groups of left wing people. This is why we don't have a ready supply of ammo and shooting supplies today. Think about who you vote for and if you want your next generation to grow up in the outdoors or in front of a video game. Happy shooting.
 
It really comes down to what is public land. It was established as land for the public to own and use, IMO. People who subscribe that thought are heavily driven by "right to access and use" our land.

The other view is more of a "right of public ownership." Those people believe land owners have the right to block access and use public land for their private use like guided hunting of state owned animals, private hiking, private camping, scenic backdrop, etc.

I do believe we need to get more into expanding right of access and stopping the use of public animals for private, for profit, industry.
 
That is good news. There should be a common sense solution to access to public land. The hard part is determining the air space above the private land. Roads that were traditionally used to cross private land for access to public land and then closed when the land is sold now locking the public out of the public land is also troubling. Someday we will all have hover boards and not touch the private land. That also doesn't give anyone the right to hover around someone's property and claim no damage was done because you didn't touch it.

I think there should be easements granted to the public for access to public lands at logical points of access. This should be able to be done on a case by case basis. Considering all the money we waste, I think we could afford to install permanent ladders at corners and proper gates and cattle guards at road crossing access points.
100% on the money. Well said.
 
Top