For Immediate Release
March 18, 2025
Contacts:
Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, 202-792-6211, pwheeler@earthjustice.org
Dagny Signorelli, Western Watersheds Project, 307-302-9931, dagny@westernwatersheds.org
Natasha Blakely, Sierra Club, natasha.blakely@sierraclub.org
Tenth Circuit Affirms Public’s Right to Access Millions of Acres of Public Land
Court ruling safeguards right to access public land via corner crossing
Denver, CO – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit today affirmed the public’s right to access millions of acres of public land across the West via corner crossing. Conservation and environmental justice groups, who filed an amicus brief in the case last year, celebrated today’s decision, which will protect access rights to public land for hikers, hunters, fishermen, and wildlife watchers alike.
“We applaud the Tenth Circuit for affirming the right of all people to lawfully benefit from public land access,” said Olivia Juarez, public land program director at GreenLatinos. “Federal lands are held in trust for all Americans. As a nation we have leaps and bounds to go to ensure everyone including future generations maintains the right to enjoy nature. The persistence of our public trust and equal access to them is a cornerstone of our nation’s greatness.”
Corner crossing refers to stepping from one piece of public land to another over a corner shared with private land. A significant amount of federal land in the West is arranged in a checkerboard pattern, with alternating sections of public and private parcels. As a result, roughly 8.3 million acres of public land across the West is “corner-locked,” meaning no public road or trail provides direct access, and it touches other public land only at the corners.
“This ruling ensures public access to millions of acres of corner-locked public lands in Wyoming, and facilitates wildlife management, supports ecological research, and deepens people’s connection with the landscape,” said Dagny Signorelli, Wyoming director of Western Watersheds Project. “This is a key win in the battle to keep public lands in public hands.”
Private landowners in the West have often taken advantage of the checkerboard pattern by asserting that the public cannot access corner-locked lands. In 2020, and again in 2021, four hunters challenged that notion by accessing public land around Elk Mountain, Wyoming via corner crossing. Interspersed with these public lands is Elk Mountain Ranch, which is owned by Iron Bar Holdings – the North Carolina-based company of pharmaceutical mogul Fred Eshelman. After a jury acquitted the hunters of criminal trespass, Iron Bar sued them for civil trespass.
In May 2023, a federal district court in Wyoming rejected Iron Bar’s claims, finding that “where a person corner crosses on foot within the checkerboard from public land to public land without touching the surface of private land and without damaging private property, there is no liability for trespass.”
Iron Bar then appealed the decision to the Tenth Circuit. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit ruled that the federal Unlawful Inclosures Act and decades of court cases interpreting it mean that Iron Bar and other private landowners cannot deny access to federal public lands by preventing corner crossing—even if state law would treat corner crossing as a form of trespass.
“Today’s decision confirms that public lands really are public,” said Tom Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “This case was about a multi-millionaire trying to prevent access to public lands so he could have it for himself. We’re grateful that the Tenth Circuit has rejected that unjust land-grab attempt and affirmed the public’s right to access and enjoy public lands.”
“This decision underscores the importance of ensuring our public lands remain in public hands, and that all can continue to enjoy, recreate, and heal on our shared lands,” said Sierra Club Outdoors for All Campaign Director Jackie Ostfeld. “Whether you hunt, fish or just want to take a hike with your family, this ruling ensures that no one can take away your right to enjoy America’s shared national treasures. We don’t need to add extra barriers preventing people from even stepping foot on public lands, and it’s wonderful to see the court recognize that.”
Earthjustice filed the brief on behalf of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, GreenLatinos, Sierra Club, and Western Watersheds Project in the Tenth Circuit case.
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