Two conservation groups – Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) and Public Land & Water Access Association Partners (PLWA) – announced a lawsuit against Montana to legalize corner crossing in that state. If successful, the lawsuit would “cement the legality of corner crossing in Montana.”
Corner crossing is the act of moving from one corner of public land to another, while the land on the other sides of the corner is private. This was legalized thanks to a fight in Wyoming, but only for states in the 10th Circuit. Montana is not among them.
This lawsuit comes on the heels of Montana’s lieutenant governor telling the legislators that corner crossing is illegal.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Some reporting, and a press release from BHA, makes it seem like corner crossing in Montana has largely been something folks do. One press release said, in part, that wardens in Montana had actually been instructed not to issue trespass citations to anyone engaging in corner crossing. Recently, however, that guidance has changed, and wardens now have the authority to issue those citations.
“It doesn’t matter what side of the barbed wire, or political aisle you stand on, we are all public landowners with a vested interest in our public lands,” Ryan Callaghan, BHA President and CEO, told MeatEater. “Corner crossing while respecting private property is a practical ‘middle ground’ that the vast majority of Montanans support. Shutting the public out of 871,000 acres of public lands is not.”
Not Going Away
The corner crossing issue isn’t going away anytime soon. Legislators in Montana have recently announced their push to legalize it.
Writing in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Boldman and Seckinger said, “This bill does one simple thing. It clarifies in Montana law that corner crossing — when no private land is touched, and no property is damaged — is lawful. It protects private property rights while ensuring that public land remains accessible to the people who own it. Because public land only matters if the public can reach it.”
Seckinger is a fly fishing guide in Bozeman, so he has a vested interest in moving this legislation forward.
“Access determines opportunity,” Seckinger and Boldman wrote. “Opportunity determines participation. Participation funds conservation. When access shrinks, everything downstream shrinks with it — from local businesses to wildlife funding.”