From a GoFundMe page that raised six figures and tireless lobbying at the Wyoming Legislature in 2023 to regular contact and determination in telling the story of public access in their state, the Wyoming chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has been a prime mover of BHA's efforts to keep public access available and expanding to hard-to-reach areas like landlocked public lands.

With 2.44 million acres of public lands that are considered "landlocked," with private land on either side offering access only at the corner of a public parcel, Wyoming has a quarter of the nation's public land that up until now was questionably inaccessible. 

A May 26, 2023, decision by a federal judge in Wyoming found that these hunters were not liable for $7 million in damages by crossing a corner adjacent to property owned by a wealthy landowner near Elk Mountain, Wyoming. But to get to that point, Wyoming BHA had to start with one of the toughest asks for causes like this: fundraising.  

"This hunting season four hunters, Brad Cape, Phillip Yoemans, John Slowensky and Zach Smith were cited for criminal trespass in Carbon County for corner crossing. They have pleaded 'not guilty' and currently this case is pending. Corner crossing is a legal grey area that stems from the public's desire to access their public land by stepping from one corner of public to another. We believe this act does not violate law or cause any negative impacts to private landowners and their use of their property. These four hunters took every precaution to make certain private land was not touched. While hunters have successfully beat the hunting and fishing corner cross trespass, these four hunters are charged with criminal trespass, which hasn't been tried in court. Acquittal of these hunters would set the stage for more access to the public lands we own. It is crucial public land hunters band together to fight for access to cornered public land! 
 
To that end, the Wyoming Chapter of BHA has set up this Gofundme page to help pay for legal representation for these four hunters. Not only do we want to support these hunters we need to prevent a negative legal precedent." 

GoFundMe message, posted in November 2021

Here's the background on the case if you haven't heard it before on the MeatEater, BHA's own Podcast & Blast, or news coverage everywhere from WyoFile to the New York Times: In the 2021 hunting season, four hunters were cited for criminal trespass in Carbon County, Wyoming, for corner crossing. They pleaded "not guilty" and were acquitted of all criminal charges in April of 2022. However, the landowner filed a lawsuit against the hunters for $7 million in civil litigation. BHA filed an amicus brief in the case that outlined the importance of public access on landlocked lands. The May 23 decision by the judge dismissed those astronomical damages, however, it is highly likely that his decision will be appealed. 

"The Wyoming chapter believes that Judge Skavdahl made an excellent decision in his ruling regarding the civil trespass decision. We feel confident the ruling will be upheld in the case of an appeal,” said Buzz Hettick, chairman of the Wyoming chapter of BHA. 

Corner crossing is not yet explicitly legal in Wyoming, but Wyoming BHA led a successful effort to secure passage of state legislation (SF 56) that clarified that a hunter would need to set foot on private ground to be convicted of criminal trespass. A hunter still could be convicted of civil charges in Wyoming and beyond for touching private property while corner crossing.  (WY BHA secured another win in the legislature this year with passage of HB 147, which makes it explicitly illegal to post public lands with "no trespassing" signs.) 

"It was encouraging to see SF 56 referenced in Judge Skavdahls ruling,” Hettick said. "This took a great effort by the chapter and our lobbyist Sabrina King to ensure that corner crossing was not part of this legislation."

But because corner crossing is a legal gray area that stems from the public's desire to access our public land by stepping from one corner of public to another, we at BHA believe this act does not violate law or cause any negative impacts to private landowners and their use of their property. These four hunters took every precaution to make certain private land was not touched.

It is crucial public land users band together to fight for access to cornered public land everywhere! 

If you have not already signed BHA’s corner crossing pledge, please do so here so we can continue to send updates on corner crossing. Additionally, you can check out recent news updates on corner crossing from the Wyoming BHA chapter, listen to an in-depth podcast on the topic and read more from the winter issue of Backcountry Journal. Finally, visit our fundraising portal to support the hunters.