Here's a political issue that affects many Mountain West states in the U.S. It has to do with something called "checkerboard lands", which are relicts of a past era where the federal government sold off alternating sections of land that met corner-to-corner in a checkerboard pattern. As a result, today there are many parcels of federal land that are inaccessible. Thirteen of the Western states contain more than 9.5 million acres of landlocked federal public lands. This was a post by one person explaining the situation: I live in Cheyenne WY, am an avid outdoors person, mostly hunting. One of my favorite area is Laramie Peak where there are many acres of BLM land which are landlocked by private land. The owners have posted signs everywhere keeping people from accessing the BLM land. They use the land for their own use, lease it out to outfitters who charge "mega-bucks" to clients for hunting purposes. We, as WY residents, should be able to access the BLM land as long as we do not disturb any private land while traveling to BLM land to enjoy as some others do. They are making thousands of dollars using BLM land for their gain while keeping others, you and me, from pursuing our interests. Some have posted BLM land claiming it to be private and my GPS states differently, not fair or right. They are able to have their own "private preserves" at our expense and I would like to see that change soon. Four Missouri hunters crossed from one piece of U.S. Bureau of Land Management land to another at the four-corner intersection of private and public property arranged in a checkerboard-pattern of ownership. They are now facing a civil lawsuit from the private property owner, and the judge has refused to dismiss it. The owner accuses them of trespassing, even though they used a tall ladder to go over the corner boundaries of the fence and did not actually set foot on his property. U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl ruled that Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman has a "plausible claim" to bring in his allegations of trespass and damage, against the four hunters, Phillip Yeomans, Bradly Cape, John Slowensky and Zachary Smith. The hunters tried to argue that a federal law, called the Unlawful Inclosures Act of 1885 which states that "all inclosures of any public lands ... are declared to be unlawful", overrides the Wyoming trespass law that the men are being sued under. The case involving the hunters could have implications for accessing an estimated 8.3 million acres of public land across the West, the estimated area of land that would be "corner locked" an interpretation of the law that corner crossing is illegal. Here’s Another Side to the Landlocked Public Lands Story | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (trcp.org) ‘Airspace’ trespass suit advances against corner-crossing hunters - WyoFile
The government owned (BLM, Bureau of Land Management) land is theoretically available for the public to go through or even hunt on. The issue is that people apparently can't get to that land without trespassing through someone else's private property. This checkerboard concept of "trespassing" is kind of a bizarre case of trespassing that is really borderline. You're really only "trespassing" on the farthest corner of the person's property, and you might literally be stepping two feet from one side to the other. It's not really the most clear what the law says about a case like this.
It looks like the court battle is still ongoing. The outcome will set a big precedent with how to handle these situations. Ranch owner: No $7M claim if judge rules corner-crossers trespassed At Elk Mountain Ranch, WyoFile, Angus M. Thuermer Jr., April 28, 2023
update: In a major win for public land users, a federal court ruled that the act of "corner-crossing" -- stepping from one piece of public land to another over a corner shared with private land -- does not constitute trespass. The decision could help provide access to over 8 million acres of public land. Corner-crossing is a big deal in the West because a lot of public land is surrounded on four sides by private parcels. Due largely to a 19th-century law aimed at promoting development along railroad corridors, land in the West is often arranged in a checkerboard pattern, with alternating sections of public and private parcels. Because of this checkerboard, a lot of public land is "corner-locked", meaning no public road or trail provides direct access, and it touches other public land only at the corners. Wyoming Court Decision Helps Provide Access to Over 8 Million Acres of Public Land, Tom Delehanty, EarthJustice.org, June 7, 2023
