TUESDAY, September 22, 2026|
Photo – Image of corner crossing – from court documents
President Trump issued an executive order ensuring access to federally managed public lands.
On Thursday, September 17th, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage.” Speaking during the September 17th press conference, President Trump said sportsmen should have access to all federally managed lands.
Specifically, “Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage” directs multiple federal agencies to expand hunting access and improve recreation opportunities on public lands. It orders the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, War, and Commerce to change any policies that limit access for recreation, infrastructure work, and wildlife management, while encouraging volunteer efforts to manage wildlife and invasive species and expanding access for sportsmen and women with disabilities.
President Trump’s executive order also directs his cabinet to unlock checkerboarded and landlocked federal lands through voluntary easements, land exchanges, and cooperative agreements that respect private property rights.
The order also permits the use of traditional lead ammunition and fishing tackle.
President Trump’s executive order is a direct response to the Elk Mountain corner‑crossing case here in Carbon County. In 2020 and 2021, a group of four Missouri hunters used a ladder to corner cross from one parcel of federal land to another. The adjacent private landowner, pharmaceutical executive Fred Eshelman, later sued the hunters for trespassing, arguing they violated his airspace despite never stepping on his property. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office initially declined to cite the hunters, but the county prosecutor ultimately filed criminal trespass charges.
In 2022, a Carbon County jury ruled in favor of the hunters. Eshelman’s attorneys then brought the case before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. In March of 2025, the judges upheld the lower court’s decision, citing the 1885 Unlawful Inclosures Act, which prohibits private landowners from blocking access to federal public lands in checkerboard regions.
Later in 2025, the Elk Mountain Ranch owner’s attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the corner‑crossing dispute, but the justices refused to take the case. Since the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision, Wyoming law enforcement, including the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, has been instructed that corner crossing is legal when performed at the corners of two public parcels without touching the adjacent private land.
Because President Trump’s “Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage” executive order was signed just last week, no regulatory changes or corner‑crossing policy proposals have been announced. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins have 180 days from last Thursday to submit plans to open checkerboard‑locked federally managed public lands.
