Forkyfinder
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And an utterly useless one.
Lawsuit Filed to Cement Legality of Corner Crossing in Montana
- Thread starter Elky Welky
- Start date
Gerald Martin
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But then again, someone once told me I couldn’t smell
if my nose was in it so I have that going for me…
Forkyfinder
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I mean - does the land sudden and strange land board policy updates smell like shit? Lamb shit? Or bullshit?
Conservation and access icons Austin Knudsen and James Brown really seemed to like it and were excited to pass it, immediately. I have followed the land board stuff a while and AK has an obvious distaste for the idea of anymore state owned public land in MT. Jersey Greg literally cooked it (with a few select chronies, sounds like) up prior to the meeting - and then didnt want to suffer the political fallout later if he voted "yes" to this trash - so he abstained.
Im sure its all a great idea though - nothing like the most outward anti public land montana politican (knudsen) being excited about a crooked major policy update done in a hurry with limited public comment. Heres an example of the kind of other things said by him:
Let the whining about mule deer recommence.
Conservation and access icons Austin Knudsen and James Brown really seemed to like it and were excited to pass it, immediately. I have followed the land board stuff a while and AK has an obvious distaste for the idea of anymore state owned public land in MT. Jersey Greg literally cooked it (with a few select chronies, sounds like) up prior to the meeting - and then didnt want to suffer the political fallout later if he voted "yes" to this trash - so he abstained.
Im sure its all a great idea though - nothing like the most outward anti public land montana politican (knudsen) being excited about a crooked major policy update done in a hurry with limited public comment. Heres an example of the kind of other things said by him:
Let the whining about mule deer recommence.
Last edited:
Rack Daniels
Well-known member
Carnage2011
Well-known member
The minute Paul Ellis weighs in on anything, I’m automatically opposed to his ideas. That guy is a ****in tool that is only worried about “Paul Ellis.”
Gerald Martin
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- 9,599
I’ve seen that sentiment in the eyes of folks who are making policy decisions reflected towards individuals on opposite sides of a contentious issue.
If I think I’ve learned anything from my limited engagement on policy debate and decision making at FWP meetings and legislative hearings it’s to never disregard the ability of a person perceived to be unreasonable to undermine the position they’re advocating for. Especially when the decision makers are coming in to the meeting with bias and preconceived preferences not aligned with the person who is hoping to change their minds in favor of a different direction.
Elky Welky
Well-known member
Op-ed from MT-BHA and PLWA in the Billings Gazette and other publications today, full text below:
billingsgazette.com
Backed into a Corner: Why We are Suing FWP
Sometimes, despite every good-faith effort to find common ground, the only path to resolution runs through a courthouse. Montanans have reached that point on corner crossing — and Montana Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, joined by Public Land and Waters Access, has filed suit against Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) to protect what we have always fought for: the public's right and opportunity to hunt and fish on public land.
So what is corner crossing? When public and private land are arranged in a checkerboard pattern, some public parcels touch only at a single corner point with nothing else connecting them to the rest of the public land system. Corner crossing is the act of stepping directly from one public parcel to the other at that shared corner, never setting foot on private land. More than 870,000 acres of Montana's publicly owned land can only be reached this way. Without corner crossing, that land would be locked away from all of us — effectively creating exclusive access for the benefit of the adjacent landowners, not the public trust.
FWP has known about this for decades. In the early 2000s, the agency decided it couldn't actually claim corner crossing was lawful — but because the physical act was de minimis (momentary and fleeting), it adopted a policy of non-enforcement unless a clear trespass accompanied it. This policy was reasonable and workable. What followed was not.
Everything changed when four men used a ladder in Wyoming to cross from public land to public land, and were subsequently prosecuted by the state and sued by the adjoining landowner for doing so. They were first acquitted in the criminal court, and the lawsuit went all the way to the 10th Circuit, wherein that Federal Appeals Court determined in 2023 that Corner Crossing was legal. Sadly, Montana is not in the 10th Circuit; we are in the 9th and therefore that ruling is persuasive, but not legally binding. The FWP director at the time, Dustin Temple, then declared without authority that corner crossing was “unlawful” in Montana.
Simultaneously, Montana BHA contacted FWP after new hunter FAQs on the agency's website flatly declared corner crossing “illegal” — a claim with no legal basis. FWP communications director Greg Lemon acknowledged the language was inaccurate and said it would be corrected. Days later, we were told FWP would not change its position. No explanation was offered. No valid case law was provided.
That same year, a hunter in Broadwater County was criminally charged for corner crossing — caught on trail cameras stepping from one public parcel to another at a textbook corner. The Montana Attorney General's office took over the prosecution. In 2024, they moved to dismiss. They said they couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and Montanans were still left without answers.
In 2025, Montana BHA worked with Representative Josh Seckinger on HB 763, a bill to compensate willing landowners for allowing through-access to public land at corners. We extended an olive branch to our friends in agriculture and the Farm Bureau to protect leaseholder interests as part of the bill. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support. Yet when asked about what has been done to promote the program, we haven’t received satisfactory answers from the department. To our knowledge and to date, no landowner has been enrolled.
Late last year, BHA and partners sat down directly with FWP attorneys and law enforcement to seek clarity on their position. When asked about the 10th Circuit's ruling, FWP's attorneys admitted they hadn't read it. When we asked how many Montanans had been prosecuted for corner crossing in 2025, they couldn't name one.
Weeks later, FWP Director Christy Clark issued an internal memo declaring corner crossing unlawful, and in a major departure from prior enforcement guidance, directed game wardens to issue citations — with no public notice, no comment period, and no legal authority cited. Further follow ups and requests for clarity and accuracy were rebuffed or ignored. For us, this was the final straw.
BHA was founded on a simple belief: that hunting and fishing on our wild public lands are worth fighting for. And PLWA has a 40 year history of fighting for public access to public lands and waters in Montana. Every public acre locked away from public access is an acre lost to the next generation of Montana hunters and anglers. Filing suit against our home state was not our first choice, in fact it was the last option when faced with loss of access to 871,000 acres. Every season is some kid's first and an old dog's last, it's impossible to create stewards of the land without access to it. So we're asking the court to provide what FWP would not: clarity, accountability, and a path back to the public land that belongs to everyone. Now—and for all who come after us.
Montana Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. Join us at https://www.backcountryhunters.org/Get-Involved/Chapters/Montana/Join.
PLWA is a membership-based Montana non-profit dedicated to maintaining and defending access to Montana's public lands and waters. Learn more or join today at plwa.org.
Backed into a corner: Why we are suing FWP | Opinion
Sometimes, despite every good-faith effort to find common ground, the only path to resolution runs through a courthouse. Montanans have reached that point on corner crossing — and Montana Backcountry
Backed into a Corner: Why We are Suing FWP
Sometimes, despite every good-faith effort to find common ground, the only path to resolution runs through a courthouse. Montanans have reached that point on corner crossing — and Montana Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, joined by Public Land and Waters Access, has filed suit against Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) to protect what we have always fought for: the public's right and opportunity to hunt and fish on public land.
So what is corner crossing? When public and private land are arranged in a checkerboard pattern, some public parcels touch only at a single corner point with nothing else connecting them to the rest of the public land system. Corner crossing is the act of stepping directly from one public parcel to the other at that shared corner, never setting foot on private land. More than 870,000 acres of Montana's publicly owned land can only be reached this way. Without corner crossing, that land would be locked away from all of us — effectively creating exclusive access for the benefit of the adjacent landowners, not the public trust.
FWP has known about this for decades. In the early 2000s, the agency decided it couldn't actually claim corner crossing was lawful — but because the physical act was de minimis (momentary and fleeting), it adopted a policy of non-enforcement unless a clear trespass accompanied it. This policy was reasonable and workable. What followed was not.
Everything changed when four men used a ladder in Wyoming to cross from public land to public land, and were subsequently prosecuted by the state and sued by the adjoining landowner for doing so. They were first acquitted in the criminal court, and the lawsuit went all the way to the 10th Circuit, wherein that Federal Appeals Court determined in 2023 that Corner Crossing was legal. Sadly, Montana is not in the 10th Circuit; we are in the 9th and therefore that ruling is persuasive, but not legally binding. The FWP director at the time, Dustin Temple, then declared without authority that corner crossing was “unlawful” in Montana.
Simultaneously, Montana BHA contacted FWP after new hunter FAQs on the agency's website flatly declared corner crossing “illegal” — a claim with no legal basis. FWP communications director Greg Lemon acknowledged the language was inaccurate and said it would be corrected. Days later, we were told FWP would not change its position. No explanation was offered. No valid case law was provided.
That same year, a hunter in Broadwater County was criminally charged for corner crossing — caught on trail cameras stepping from one public parcel to another at a textbook corner. The Montana Attorney General's office took over the prosecution. In 2024, they moved to dismiss. They said they couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and Montanans were still left without answers.
In 2025, Montana BHA worked with Representative Josh Seckinger on HB 763, a bill to compensate willing landowners for allowing through-access to public land at corners. We extended an olive branch to our friends in agriculture and the Farm Bureau to protect leaseholder interests as part of the bill. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support. Yet when asked about what has been done to promote the program, we haven’t received satisfactory answers from the department. To our knowledge and to date, no landowner has been enrolled.
Late last year, BHA and partners sat down directly with FWP attorneys and law enforcement to seek clarity on their position. When asked about the 10th Circuit's ruling, FWP's attorneys admitted they hadn't read it. When we asked how many Montanans had been prosecuted for corner crossing in 2025, they couldn't name one.
Weeks later, FWP Director Christy Clark issued an internal memo declaring corner crossing unlawful, and in a major departure from prior enforcement guidance, directed game wardens to issue citations — with no public notice, no comment period, and no legal authority cited. Further follow ups and requests for clarity and accuracy were rebuffed or ignored. For us, this was the final straw.
BHA was founded on a simple belief: that hunting and fishing on our wild public lands are worth fighting for. And PLWA has a 40 year history of fighting for public access to public lands and waters in Montana. Every public acre locked away from public access is an acre lost to the next generation of Montana hunters and anglers. Filing suit against our home state was not our first choice, in fact it was the last option when faced with loss of access to 871,000 acres. Every season is some kid's first and an old dog's last, it's impossible to create stewards of the land without access to it. So we're asking the court to provide what FWP would not: clarity, accountability, and a path back to the public land that belongs to everyone. Now—and for all who come after us.
Montana Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. Join us at https://www.backcountryhunters.org/Get-Involved/Chapters/Montana/Join.
PLWA is a membership-based Montana non-profit dedicated to maintaining and defending access to Montana's public lands and waters. Learn more or join today at plwa.org.
