After the landmark ruling in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that legalized corner-crossing in Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico, state legislators from Montana are looking to give their residents the same ability to access public lands.
What is corner-crossing?
Corner-crossing is the act of stepping from one corner of public land to another, where two corners of public land touch, while being bordered by private land elsewhere. This checkerboard pattern of public and private land is common in the West.
The legality of corner-crossing has long been debated, with private landowners claiming that those who corner cross are still violating their airspace. Public land advocates claim corner-crossing is their only way to effectively reach land that’s locked away from access points and easements, but is still public.
Proposed Legislation
Montana state senator Ellie Boldman and state representative Josh Seckinger have introduced legislation that would legalize corner-crossing in Montana. Since Montana isn’t part of the 10th Circuit, the recent ruling doesn’t apply there.
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.”
Fuel on the Fire
This legislation comes on the heels of the Yellowstone effect, which made Montana popular to wealthy coastal elites after the smash-hit TV show Yellowstone. In just the past few years, real estate values have skyrocketed, and wealthy out-of-state interests have purchased quite a bit of land, further adding to access problems in Montana.
“Across the West, we have watched super-wealthy interests purchase enormous swaths of private land, consolidate control, and in some cases restrict access to the public lands surrounding or interwoven with those properties,” the legislators wrote. “The result is a slow but steady tightening of access in states where outdoor opportunity has long been a defining value.”