Could closing four Mont. trails cut off access elsewhere?

A federal judge issued a blow to hunting and fishing advocates in Montana on Friday, recommending the dismissal of a lawsuit that accuses the Forest Service of failing to protect public access to Montana’s Crazy Mountains.

But plaintiffs in the case warn that such an outcome could cut off access not just to that region, but to forestlands across the nation.

“This is potentially a road map for landowners to really restrict access on these trails that don’t have recorded deeds,” said Matthew Bishop with the Western Environmental Law Center, which is representing plaintiffs in the case. “That’s going to undermine hundreds if not thousands of roads and trails around the West.”