Unlocking Montana: A Solution to Corner-Locked Public Land

Across the American West, 9.52 million acres of federal and state public lands are inaccessible to the public. The legality of accessing much of those public lands through corner-crossing is unclear in the law because, in the infinitesimal space where four corners of land meet in a checkerboard pattern, there is ambiguity; neither private landowners nor the public can assert an exclusive right or absolute control without infringing upon the rights of the other. This paper discusses the origins of landlocked public land, common law doctrines that inform legal actors in this space, and analyzes federal statute and state legislative attempts to clarify corner-crossing. Informed by principles of statutory interpretation, the paper systematically examines five previous legislative attempts to legalize corner crossing in Wyoming, Nevada, and Montana. It proposes a solution that progresses Montana’s outdoor recreation heritage while respecting private property rights through a thoughtful addition to the Montana Code Annotated