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State Committee Pushes Bill To Confirm Corner Crossing Is Legal

The state’s Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Interim Committee has advanced a bill declaring corner crossing is not an act of criminal trespass or violation of game and fish laws.

The legislature will consider the bill and potential amendments in November.

The vote came as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to accept a lower-court corner crossing is not trespassing. Some committee members were wary of how a SCOTUS rule might affect a state law.

“We know that corner crossing right now is legal,” Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, told the committee. “This is putting in statute that that is the case.”

Corner crossing is the act of stepping from one piece of public land to another where they meet with two pieces of private property. Corner crossers do not set foot on private land but they pass through the airspace above it.

Fred Eshelman, Elk Mountain Ranch owner and carpetbagger extraordinaire, sued four Missouri hunters claiming they trespassed while corner crossing to hunt on public land surrounded by his 20,000 acres in Carbon County. The hunters did not set foot on his property and the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of appeals sided with them.

The Supreme Court could receive the case as early as Sept. 17, the attorney representing the hunters told the committee Tuesday in Casper. Ryan Semerad also said it’s possible the file could be distributed to the justices later, on Oct. 1.

If justices want the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in and outline his views, that would delay action by a couple of months, Semerad said.

A SCOTUS hearing would not happen before the first months of 2026, he said. Inviting the solicitor general’s views could push the case into the summer of next year.

The 10th Circuit decision earlier this year clarifies that corner crossing confirmed public access to public land in the checkerboard area of land ownership in southern Wyoming. At stake is 2.4 million acres that would be “corner locked” if corner crossing is illegal. The decision also applies to Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas.

The slim majority of the legislative committee agreed to keep the bill on the table.

“The reason that I’m willing to send it on [is] so that we keep it on the radar screen,” Sen Bill Landen, R-Casper, said, “so that the rest of our legislative friends can get a look at this issue and know that it’s not going away.”

Semerad explained the measure as one that would remove law enforcement from relatively insignificant trespass claims that might arise out of corner crossing. Landowners could still sue trespassers — not necessarily corner crossers — in civil court.

Casper Republican Rep. Elissa Campbell said, “I think it will reduce the burden on law enforcement, whether it’s our sheriffs or our wardens, … and adds some clarity. Clarity is a good thing and needs to be in place, regardless of how this court case shakes out.”

Rep. Andy Byron, R-Jackson, voted to move the bill forward. “This is something that was brought up to us,” he said of grassroots support. “We voted on it as … a priority. People have spoken.”

Six legislators were skeptical. “I don’t know how this gets resolved without it going to the Supreme Court,” Rep. Bob Wharff, R-Evanston, said.

Others dithered over trivial issues such as accuracy of corner monuments, accuracy of cell phone apps that use GPS data and the prospect of people using e-bikes and deer carriers while crossing corners, something the 10th Circuit did not condone.

“We certainly don’t think the Supreme Court needs to take this case at all,” Semerad said. “We think the 10th Circuit got it right.”

If the court does hear the case, the hunters are ready to defend their position, he said.

“It is quite literally a once-in-a-generation type issue,” he said.

Sen. Bill Landen and Rep. Andrew Byron are co-chairs of the committee. Thank them for moving this bill forward.

Sen. Bill Landen

2010 Kingsbury Drive 

Casper, WY 82609

307-259-4194

Bill.Landen@wyoleg.gov

Rep. Andrew Byron

P.O. Box 4882 

Jackson, WY 83001

307-690-2767

Andrew.Byron@wyoleg.gov

Want to know more? Check out these resources:

Click here for the Sierra Club.

Click here  for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

Click here for Advocates for Multi-use of Public Lands

Click here for Utah State Attorney General

Click here for the Albany County Democrats platform, p. 8

Click here for the Wyoming State Republican Platform, 19. Water and Land Rights.

Click here for the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Click here for the Trust for Public Lands - Wyoming.

Click here for the Nature Conservancy - Wyoming.

Click here for the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Click here for the Wyoming Wildlife Advocates.

Click here for the Defenders of Wildlife.

Click here for Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.