Corner-crossing experts urge caution for Wyoming recreators in wake of ruling

by Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile

LARAMIE—A March ruling by a federal appeals court in a widely watched corner-crossing case determined that private landowners cannot bar access to public lands with fences, trespass actions or other methods.

Hunters, recreators and public lands advocates celebrated the ruling and its implications for the states within the 10th Circuit — Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Thursday, however, Ryan Semerad, the attorney who represented the four Missouri hunters in the federal civil lawsuit, urged recreators to exercise caution and goodwill if attempting to corner cross — or step from one piece of public land to another where those two parcels meet at a common corner with two private parcels, in a checkboard pattern of ownership. Wyoming’s checkerboard spans more than 2 million acres. 

“There are limitations to that decision,” Semerad said Thursday during a corner-crossing panel discussion in Laramie. “That doesn’t mean go jump on your side by side … and just have at it. It doesn’t mean you get to go on private property without permission, consent or something else. What it means is that you have reasonable access to step from one section to the next section, so long as you can be situated appropriately, you know where the monument marker is, you know where you’re going and you respect that.”

There are also outstanding questions for landowners, said Wyoming Stock Growers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna, another panelist. His group filed an amicus brief in the case in support of the landowner who sued the Missouri hunters for stepping over, but never touching, Elk Mountain Ranch property. 

“It’s pretty clear that you cannot deny access to these checkerboard lands,” Magagna said. “Does that mean that you have to allow crossing at every corner? If I want to identify one of the four corners that I control as the access point, do I have the liberty to do that? Or if I want to designate a path through the middle of my private land in lieu of granting access across the corners?

“Those are many of the questions that still remain out there to be addressed,” Magagna said. 

As they talked, it became clear that interpretations of the ruling still vary widely. But both urged common sense and respectful communication — traditional tenets of Wyoming hunting etiquette regarding private landowners.

“We need to remember that it’s a culture of cooperation with these lands, and that’s how this is going to work moving forward,” Semerad said.

The panel was part of the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Summit, a two-day event bringing together outdoor recreation business leaders, public lands agency officials, nonprofits and others to strengthen the burgeoning industry and enhance access to resources. The summit is one product of newly expanded state government support of the outdoor recreation — Wyoming’s Office of Outdoor Recreation helps put it on. 

Appropriately, the panel addressed a legal question that has captivated recreators in Wyoming and the nation.

Hunters, a wealthy landowner, trespass charges 

In 2020, hunters Brad Cape, John Slowensky and Phillip Yeomans corner crossed to hunt on Elk Mountain, then did so again with Zach Smith in 2021.

Carbon County ranch owner Fred Eshelman sued the four men in 2022 for passing through the airspace above his property on their way to hunt.

Eshelman sued to block them, and anyone else, from corner crossing to reach some 11,000 acres of federal and state land enmeshed in his 50-square-mile ranch, a coveted hunting ground known for its abundant wildlife.

That set off a series of court challenges and appeals in a case that involved everything from the limits of private property rights to the extent of airspace and the legality of preventing the public from accessing public land. 

With implications not only for the 2.4 million acres of “corner-locked” land in Wyoming, but also for 8.3 million acres across the West, the case gained national attention, particularly among hunters. 

It culminated in March with the appeals court decision. In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel sided against Eshelman, citing an act of Congress that preempts Wyoming trespass law. 

Congress enacted the Unlawful Inclosures Act in 1885. “No one may completely prevent or obstruct another from peacefully entering or freely passing over or through public lands,” the act says, according to the appellate judges. 

The act, which explicitly prohibits “obstructing transit over public lands by force, threats, intimidation, or by any fencing or inclosing,” supersedes Wyoming trespass law, the judges ruled. 

What that means in practical terms, Semerad said Thursday, is this: “You can now step from one section of public land to the next. In Wyoming, there is no state law, statute or regulation that can stop you; the federal law would preempt it.”

Questions remain 

Magagna believes the ruling is aimed explicitly at the checkerboard — not islands of public land surrounded by private land elsewhere, he said Thursday. 

Semerad disagreed. “The Unlawful Inclosures Act applies to all public lands,” he said. 

Moderator Dan McCoy, director of the Jay Kemmerer WORTH Institute, asked if the Wyoming Legislature or the state could have a bearing on the issue. 

The Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee will discuss corner crossing when it holds an interim meeting June 5-6 in Dubois. 

Though the ruling clearly states the Unlawful Inclosures Act is supreme, Magagna said, “I think where there is opportunity, potentially for the Legislature should they choose to do so, is to better define the tools that are available and the limitations on the use of those tools.” He also brought up land exchanges by which more public land could become accessible without the necessity of corner crossing.  

So what should recreators do if they come across a corner that’s fenced off, McCoy asked.

“If you come across a fenced corner, call me, call the U.S. Attorney’s office because that’s unlawful,” Semerad said. “That is straight up a violation of the Unlawful Inclosures Act.”

The March decision might not be the final word in the corner-crossing case. There is a chance it will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Semerad said. The earliest the high court could see it is next winter, he said. 

In the meantime, both men stressed a spirit of collaboration when it comes to public land users and private property owners.

“Respect and cooperation is always going to take us much further than if we’re just going to be battling it out all the time,” Semerad said. 

“The real answer to all this, to me and I think to many people I represent,” Magagna added, “is the relationships we build in Wyoming with people, between private landowners and the recreation and outdoor community, particularly the sportsmen, hunters and fishermen. So I think that the key thing, for now at least, is to build those relationships.” 

Angus M. Thuemer Jr. contributed to this story.

This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

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