By
AMANDA EGGERT/Montana Free Press
Two public land access groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ position that corner crossing is “unlawful” in Montana.The Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Public Land Water Access Association raised public participation and public trust doctrine claims in their 34-page filing before the Lewis and Clark County District Court. The plaintiffs also take issue with the state’s interpretation of trespassing statutes, a central piece of the legal dispute surrounding corner crossing.The groups are asking the court to reverse FWP’s guidance on the issue, arguing that it “is in conflict with existing legal authority, is not based on an established statute or common law precedent in this state, is an abrogation of the state’s public trust duties, and is in direct conflict with the recent adjudication of the merits of this issue” in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The “public trust duties” refers to a centuries-old legal doctrine holding that state lands and natural resources such as wildlife “shall be held in trust for the people.”
Corner crossing is the act of stepping from adjoining corners of public land where alternating sections of public and private land exist in a checkerboard pattern. Corner crossing has generated increasing interest in the West after digital mapping company OnX published a 2022 report revealing 8.3 million acres of “corner-locked” land in the U.S., 871,000 of which are in Montana.
