June 5, 2023 |
Photo – Elk Mountain – Courtesy Carbon County Visitor’s Council
In a public lands issue that divides the haves and the have-nots, a federal judge recently ruled in favor of out-of-state, corner-crossing hunters.
The four Missouri hunters have cleared a second legal hurdle after being acquitted of criminal trespassing charges on May 7, 2022. The four men were accused of trespassing on the Elk Mountain Ranch. On May 27, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl granted the hunter’s request to dismiss the $7.5 million lawsuit brought by the ranch’s owner, Fred Eschelman. The hunters named in the lawsuit are Phillip Yeomans, Bradly Cape, John Slowensky, and Zachary Smith.
The case stems from an early 2020’s hunting trip where the four men used a specially-designed ladder to cross from one corner of public land to another. Eschelman claimed the men trespassed when they crossed the airspace above his 22,000-acre ranch. In September of 2021, Carbon County Attorney Ashley Davis brought charges against the four men. Carbon County District Judge Dawnessa Snyder presided over the case. After a two-day trial, Judge Snyder found the men not guilty of trespassing.
Roughly three months before the criminal trial began, Eschelman filed his $7 million civil damage claim against the hunters.
In his ruling, Judge Skavdahl said, “the Court finds that where a person corner crosses on foot within the checkerboard from public land to public land without touching the surface of private land and without damaging private property, there is no liability for trespass.”
The ruling is being celebrated as a victory for outdoor enthusiasts and sportsmen. With almost a third of Wyoming’s public land sandwiched between private holdings, access was all but impossible before last week’s ruling.
The case isn’t over yet. One of the hunters, Zachary Smith is charged with another trespassing charge unrelated to the corner crossing incident. Eschelman’s attorneys claim that Smith’s GPS program showed he was on Elk Mountain Ranch property in 2020. Smith’s attorney disputes the claim, saying the GPS waypoint could have been made from anywhere.
Judge Skavdahl will hear Eschelman’s case against Smith sometime this month.
Judge Skavdahl said the hunters did not touch or harm Eshelman’s private land when they corner-crossed. He concluded that “corner crossing on foot in the checkerboard pattern of land ownership, without physically, contacting private land and, without causing damage to private property does not constitute an unlawful trespass.”
