It's a data-driven look at access to 8.3 million acres of public land in the West.
https://www.onxmaps.com/onx-access-i...rossing-report
Too bad more journalism doesn't follow this model.
Okie John
It's a data-driven look at access to 8.3 million acres of public land in the West.
https://www.onxmaps.com/onx-access-i...rossing-report
Too bad more journalism doesn't follow this model.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
I need more time to digest that but it is fascinating and something I didn’t know was a problem.
Basically, private property owners are denying access to 8.3 million acres of public land, which effectively makes it their land. Opening these lands will be an uphill battle and the public is often its own worst enemy with regard to this kind of thing.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
I didn't read the whole article but I'm assuming that the private property owner is anti-hunting, and created this situation.
To say that this is a problem across the entire west isn't necessarily true. I own land in a similar situation but there is a "road" that passes thru it. I even allow the local rancher to free range his cattle on my property.
I always thought that there had to be a right of way given to those that need to get into another property
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
I used to hunt pheasants in E. Washington. Many of the farmers over there will gate and deny access to state land. They lease the land to graze cattle and grow wheat. If you know where these state owned sections of land are you can sometimes get access by just asking the property owner if you can walk in.
A typical situation is you have a county road cutting through a portion of state land. You drive onto the state land but find everything posted no trespassing on both sides of the county right-of-way. The property owner is using the land as he would if he owned it and will deny access to hunters.
Working as a surveyor I knew how to establish decent lat and long coordinates on these corners using USGS topo maps. I had access to every USGS map in the state. Once on the ground I used a Garmin GPS and was relatively sure of where the section corners were in relation to my position, probably within 100'. I once asked a farmer if I could walk onto the property from the county road and he said no. I then informed him it was state land. He asked me how I knew that and I told him I was a surveyor and knew where the corners of the state land were. He then reluctantly gave us permission to hunt but to stay out of his planted fields.
Most of these public lands are not accessible except through private property. In WA one section out of every township (usually section 36) was reserved for the WA public school system. Some of that land has been sold but a lot of it still exists and is land locked by private land. The adjacent property owners block the access and use it as their own property.
https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/...ds_map_nu2.pdf
I'm sure there is a lot of federal land where public access has ceased to exist.
I haven't read the link but I will.
Last edited by Borderland; 04-11-2022 at 12:22 PM.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I don't know about any state except WA but here anyone can refuse access unless there is some easement established. Here's a short course.Originally Posted by SecondsCount
I didn't read the whole article but I'm assuming that the private property owner is anti-hunting, and created this situation.
To say that this is a problem across the entire west isn't necessarily true. I own land in a similar situation but there is a "road" that passes thru it. I even allow the local rancher to free range his cattle on my property.
I always thought that there had to be a right of way given to those that need to get into another property
https://www.brinkatlaw.com/easement-lawyers/#
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I've had to mediate a number of disputes between landowners and hunters/off-roaders/etc, while "on the Job".
Sometimes, people wanting to use land for recreation can be their own worst enemies when dealing with landowners who depend on the property's productivity for their livelihood. At worst, they continue to perpetuate the stereotype of "city folks" as arrogant jackasses. This often results in over-protective behavior on the part of the landowners, such as denying access and posting areas that aren't really under their exclusive control.
In most of these situations, some empathy and politeness goes a long way.
It's not about one landowner, but hundreds or thousands of landowners restricting access. A lot of that is self-preservation, but they're still keeping the public from using land that the public owns.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Does everyone like to argue around here these days?
I get it, land access is an issue. My point is that there are many landowners, myself included, that do not restrict access to public land.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
That was a really interesting article.
Here in West TN there isn't as much public land and most of the private land is all broken up multiple times of the last 100 years since one of my ancestors first surveyed it back in the early 1800's.]
I have never hunted public land, only private property so I don't know if the same problems are present over here or now.
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