No. The public land has motor vehicle restrictions on it -- I and my invitees are the only ones permitted to drive on the road. I can't keep people from walking on the road where it crosses the State section, but I absolutely can keep people from driving on it.
And what do you gain by doing so?
Preventing damage to my road and trespassing (remember that the public land my road runs through prohibits motor vehicle use unless specifically authorized). 95% of the time, the folks that ignore the "No motorized vehicles" signs also ignore my private property signs later on. Usually, these folks are dirt bikers and mud boggers that love to hit the dirt right after a rain.
They would get cited for violating the no motorized vehicle restrictions... the sheriff rarely gets out quickly enough to catch the ones running away. The others have left after I talked with them. The nuances of my situation are somewhat unique, as the public land is part of a pedestrian/biking only area that borders the city limit.
I know of situations where a private landowner at the end of a closed road on BLM has an easement and his own lock on the gate and gets to drive in where no other public is allowed to drive behind the gate.
If it hadn't been for the vehicle restrictions, that's how the State would have had mine too. The section gets used by 100+ people per day, which would amount to an enormous amount of traffic.
You are correct, at least as far as my portion that runs through State land. The public can walk on it, just not drive on it. It is, as you say, very similar to the rights the previous agricultural lessee had on it -- now it's leased by the county for mountain biking and hiking for the public. Part of my situation is unique because I secured a large portion my easements through private land; later on, public entities purchased the land for public access, but these entities still have to abide by the recorded easements.
I can name half a dozen roads around here that are crossing public where this is the case.
So is the motor vehicle restriction keeping people from driving on it or is it considered a private road? Close to me there's a road on FS land that leads to a parcel of private property. About a mile up the road the FS has a gate up restricting motorized access but you can walk on it all day long.
Just because a road is on public land, was built and is maintained by a government agency does not mean that it is always open to the public. So, I would say the answer is No.
That’s not what I said, I said road is 100% that it’s public. You confirmed with the county, the Blm or forest service, game warden who ever else and they all say you can drive down it. You even did one better and got emails back and forth confirming this. You get out there and the road goes through flying AH ranch and there is a gate with a lock you cut the lock go through the gate and close the gate behind you. What would happen?
