Written by Justin Park|
Last updated
The debate over the legality of "corner crossing" isn't over, but a lawsuit in Montana hopes to force the issue. Two public-land access groups sued Montana this week, arguing the state has no legal basis for treating “corner crossing” as trespass — a dispute affecting access to roughly 871,000 acres of federal land.
Although a federal appeals court ruled last year that corner crossing is legal in several 10th Circuit states, that decision does not directly govern Montana, which falls under the 9th Circuit and has no controlling precedent on the issue.
What is Corner Crossing?
Corner crossing refers to stepping diagonally from one square of land to another and whether that act should be considered trespassing on adjacent squares. Imagine the move a bishop makes on a chessboard and you've got the idea. It's a legal play in chess, but for years was treated as a crime in many Western states if the adjacent squares were privately held.
(Watch the video below if you're having trouble visualizing.
A historical accident, the checkerboard pattern of alternating private and public land is common throughout the West and provides challenges to public land hunters chasing game that aren't constrained by property lines.
Blocking corner-crossing kept millions of acres of public land accessible only to the adjacent private landholders, and a 2022 report from hunt mapping company onX claimed that the checkerboard pattern in question locked up about 8.3 million acres of public land.
Is Corner Crossing Legal or Not?
It's complicated.
A ruling in a high-profile case of a group of Missouri hunters that corner-crossed in Wyoming effectively legalized corner-crossing last spring in the 10th District which includes Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Utah.
The Wyoming court decision followed common sense and historical precedent in stating that corner crossing is not trespassing "as long as {hunters don't} physically touch" the private ground.
But Montana, a checkerboard-dense state with 871,000 acres of corner-locked land, has maintained corner-crossing is still illegal there and sowed confusion over the issue with a recent presentation by Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras to legislators and the public. Days later, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Public Land Water Access Association filed suit seeking clarity with legal force from a judge.
"We fundamentally disagree with the Department on this issue and believe this must now be decided before a neutral court,” said Jake Schwaller, Chair of the Montana Chapter of BHA, in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “There comes a time when we simply need to stand up for our public land, and this is our time."
Justin Park is a Colorado-based writer, editor, and avid hunter with a passion for the outdoors. He contributes to leading publications such as GearJunkie, Popular Mechanics, Powder, and Men's Journal, and serves as Editor of Wild Snow. Park is deeply involved in conservation and recreation advocacy, serving as Chapter Chair of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) in Summit County. He also represents RMEF on a state recreation committee focused on proactively addressing land use conflicts.