Checkerboard ownership patterns are common in the West. Photo courtesy of OnX Maps.
On Monday, October 20, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a case that would have had ramifications for freelance waterfowl hunters across the Western U.S. The Supreme Court announced that it would not consider Iron Bar Holdings LLC vs. Bradly Cape, et al.—the case involving four elk hunters who “corner-crossed” between two public parcels in Wyoming in 2021.
The case was notable because there was little legal precedent for whether hunters could cross the corners of checkerboard public lands, which are prevalent in many western states. Corner-crossing involves stepping from one corner of public land to another without touching private ground, but it does require entering the airspace of private land. The hunters involved with this case used ladders to traverse from one public parcel to another on the edge of Iron Bar, a ranch in southwest Wyoming.
Initially, the local sheriff filed criminal trespass charges against the hunters at the ranch owner’s behest. A county court found the hunters not guilty, but Iron Bar subsequently filed a civil case arguing that by “trespassing” over his property, the hunters had devalued the property. Last March, a 10th Circuit Federal Court ruled in favor of the hunters, essentially legalizing corner crossing in the states under its jurisdiction: Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
Attorneys for Iron Bar appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the nation’s highest court declined to hear the case. Supreme Court justices did not provide a reason for their decision. It’s important to note that this action by the court, which only considers approximately 5 percent of appeals, did not necessarily affirm the legality of corner crossing nationwide. Instead, the decision leaves the 10th Circuit Court’s ruling in place but leaves the issue in a legal limbo in all states that aren’t under the jurisdiction of the 10th Circuit Court.
This means the legality of corner crossing for freelance waterfowlers in states such as Montana and Nevada remains unclear—likely until other similar lawsuits ensue. Additionally, the actual application of corner crossing in states where it’s legal may be difficult, as satellite maps may not always reflect property boundaries with enough precision and accuracy to do so without inadvertently trespassing.
Still, some folks in the hunting community are celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision. “The War for Elk Mountain is over. After more than 4 years of courtroom battles, corner-locking is no more, and public access prevails,” wrote Ryan Semerad, an attorney for the hunters in the case in an Instagram post. “Checkerboarded public lands in the 10th Circuit will remain accessible to the public for generations to come.”
“This case should’ve never even been on the docket to begin with,” said Land Tawney, American Hunters & Anglers Co-Chair, in a press release provided to Split Reed. “Accessing the public land we all own—without even stepping foot onto privately owned property—should have never been a question in the first place.”