The long-running battle over corner-crossing access to public land has reached its end, at least for now. On Oct. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the appeal of a Wyoming landowner who sought to overturn a lower-court decision that favored public-land hunters.
With that decision, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ March ruling now stands, setting a major precedent for millions of acres of “checkerboard” land across the West.
The Long Fight for Access
The case centered on a group of four Missouri hunters who, in 2021, used a ladder to cross from one public parcel to another at a four-corner intersection near Elk Mountain, Wyo. The land beneath two of those corners was privately owned by Iron Bar Holdings LLC, a company tied to North Carolina businessman Fred Eshelman.
The hunters were initially charged with trespassing, though a Wyoming jury found them not guilty. Iron Bar then filed a civil lawsuit claiming the men had violated property rights by passing through private airspace.
The hunters’ defense argued that no physical contact occurred with private land, and that blocking access to public parcels violated the Unlawful Inclosures Act of 1885. That law prevents landowners from fencing off or restricting entry to public land. The courts agreed. Both the U.S. District Court for Wyoming and later the 10th Circuit sided with the hunters.
The Supreme Court Steps Aside
Iron Bar Holdings appealed to the Supreme Court after losing in the 10th Circuit. The Court declined to hear the case, effectively allowing the lower-court decision to stand. The ruling now carries legal weight across all six states under the 10th Circuit’s jurisdiction: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
The decision stops short of setting a nationwide standard, but within those states, it provides long-awaited clarity. Hunters and other outdoor users may legally move between adjoining public parcels at shared corners, so long as no part of their body or gear touches private property.
What It Means for Hunters and Landowners
For public-land users, the outcome opens access to an estimated 8.3 million acres of land that was previously considered unreachable due to the checkerboard pattern of ownership. Hunters and hikers can now reach these parcels without fear of prosecution, provided they stay within the legal bounds established by the ruling.
For landowners, the implications are more complicated. Some argue the ruling strips away long-standing property rights, while others say it clarifies a legal gray area that had long invited conflict. Landowners who control property near public parcels will have fewer tools to restrict access but can still enforce trespass laws if individuals physically enter private ground.
What Happens Next
The decision marks a clear victory for public-land advocates, but it may not be the final word on the issue. Other courts outside the 10th Circuit could interpret corner-crossing differently, and new cases could eventually prompt a national ruling. For now, though, the western checkerboard is more open than it has been in more than a century.
Hunters, hikers, and anglers across the region are celebrating a long-awaited answer to a decades-old question of access. The “corner-crossing war” may not be over everywhere, but within the 10th Circuit, the gates just swung open.
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