US Edition
Landowner Looks to Appeal Corner-Crossing Case to U.S. Supreme Court
- On March 18, 2025, a unanimous appellate panel from the 10th Circuit Court issued a detailed 49-page decision dismissing civil trespassing claims against four hunters involved in corner-crossing near Elk Mountain Ranch, Wyoming.
- The case arose from a 2022 elk hunt where hunters crossed from offset public lands, challenging a century-and-a-half-old legal framework designed to incentivize railroad expansion and homesteading in the American West.
- The court examined a century-old federal statute aimed at preventing large-scale land monopolization and upheld that hunters are permitted to cross at land corners without stepping onto private property, referencing legal analysis by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and reviewing historical land ownership issues.
- Wyoming attorney Ryan Semerad, who represented the hunters, said there is "zero percent chance" the landowners won't appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could clarify access-versus-trespass laws affecting over eight million acres of corner-locked land.
- Iron Bar Holdings, which owns Elk Mountain Ranch, has requested an additional 30 days to file an appeal, with their attorneys describing the case as one of the most significant challenges to private property rights in U.S. History, emphasizing its wide-reaching implications over approximately 300 million acres of checkerboard-patterned land in the Western United States.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Helena Independent Record
Landowner looks to appeal corner-crossing case to U.S. Supreme Court
A Supreme Court ruling would have major implications for checkerboard land in the West.
Landowner looks to appeal civil trespassing case to SCOTUS
The landowner who earlier this year lost a civil trespassing case against four corner-crossing hunters has signalled his intention to appeal the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.Iron Bar Holdings, LLC, wrote in a request for an extension to file an appeal that the issue “has vast reach, covering a huge portion of the roughly 300 million acres of checkerboard land and affecting landowners throughout the American West.”Iron Bar Holdings controls E…
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Stands by its Position: Corner Crossing is NOT a Crime
Iron Bar Holdings Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Review Corner Crossing Ruling WASHINGTON, D.C. — Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), North America’s leading public lands advocacy group, is responding today to news that Iron Bar Holdings, LLC will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the landmark corner crossing case upheld earlier this year by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case, which affirmed that four Missouri hunters did not…
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