Montana voter initiative for corner crossing.

[lastlight]

Some say you can. Some say you can’t.

Well then, I know which camp I’ll fall under this fall

 

[Gerald Martin]

Well then, I know which camp I’ll fall under this fall

Cross at a corner marked with a pin. Document your crossing with a gps track. Be willing to fight it through in court if you are charged for trespass and you could be a hero. Or a martyr. Good luck.

Personally, it’s an area I let circumstances help make my decision of whether to or which corner pin I step across.

I haven’t seen where in MT the courts have definitely proven it’s trespass so, I have in the past and will probably step across corners again in the future. I probably won’t do it in certain areas, not because I think it’s wrong, but because I don’t really want to be the test case.

 

[RobG]

there was a case a a year or two years ago in the Livingston area about corner crossing. It wasnt prosecuted because a prior ruling by Livingston judge swandell said that it wasn’t illegal. Perhaps someone has more details.

Big Fin once said it was civil trespassing for sure, but with $0 damages.

Whatever it is, you still have to pay for a lawyer to get it thrown out.

 

[RobG]

there was a case a a year or two years ago in the Livingston area about corner crossing. It wasnt prosecuted because a prior ruling by Livingston judge swandell said that it wasn’t illegal. Perhaps someone has more details.

Big Fin once said it was civil trespassing for sure, but with $0 damages.

Whatever it is, you still have to pay for a lawyer to get it thrown out.

By the way, just because some judge in a piddly court didn’t prosecute doesn’t mean much in the way of precedent.

 

[MTLabrador]

This might be the case Rob is referring to. One instance wasn’t prosecuted, one successfully was because of an 80 foot gap between the corners.

Park County Court Cases Testing Boundaries Of Public Access, Private Property Rights

March 1 kicks off the new license year for Montana hunters, many of whom will rely on public land to punch their tags. Some of them say large,…

www.ypradio.org

 

[Irishman]

They would also have to be marked because the gps apps would need to within a foot or so. Once kept returning to a waypoint that I had marked with OnX and I’d wind up in a spot 10’ away.

I think the marking requirement could be included within any law of the relevant agency were to survey it or they allowed a reasonable amount of overlap.

Of course the problem isn't that landowners are worried about you stepping on their foot or 10 feet of land, it's that they just don't want you stepping in the public land that they treat as their own.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Crossing at a pin= accessing my public land legally.
Walking across 80’ of private land where corners don’t touch.= Trespassing

 

[MTLabrador]

Crossing at a pin= accessing my public land legally.
Walking across 80’ of private land where corners don’t touch.= Trespassing

I think this is the section from the case. There’s clearly a gap.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Yep. I would find him guilty of trespassing if I were judge or jury in that case.

Big difference between accessing public land in a manner that hasn’t been clearly defined as illegal vs. outright trespass, IMO.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Of course the guy was a shed hunter so that says something.....

 

[RobG]

Of course the guy was a shed hunter so that says something.....

Meaning even if he could have corner hopped his shed-hunting knuckles would have dragged across private property. ;D but his argument appears to be that he had established a prescriptive easement for himself.

MTLabrador - yes, that was the case and article I was referring to. Swandell was the county attorney, not a judge like a said.

 

[lastlight]

What if you were to run a zip line from public ponderosa to public ponderosa? I think I just thought of a new “industry” scheme. I see a how to vid coming soon..

 

[RobG]

What if you were to run a zip line from public ponderosa to public ponderosa? I think I just thought of a new “industry” scheme. I see a how to vid coming soon..

How are you going to get to the other side to attach the other end of the zip line?

When the legislature was trying make corner crossing trespassing our wonderful Jennifer Fielder said she was worried about people using jet packs.

 

[Gerald Martin]

How are you going to get to the other side to attach the other end of the zip line?

When the legislature was trying make corner crossing trespassing our wonderful Jennifer Fielder said she was worried about people using jet packs.

Don’t ridicule someone who is concerned about future problems associated with technology.

 

[elkduds]

Too bad property lines extend 100' above the ground.

 

[MTGomer]

Maybe that's the key here. Get the PLS lobbying group to bring the plight of the surveyors to the legislature - how is a small business supposed to survive when their work is unpredictable? It's almost like a lottery!

I see the problem here, fully support your idea for a solution and for $100/hr am prepared to help fix it.

Call your legislators.

I may have surveying abilities but I am a student of MOGA first and foremost.

 

[Sytes]

Waiting for the anti gravity game sled...

 

[Schaaf]

Don’t ridicule someone who is concerned about future problems associated with technology.

‘The Simpsons’: 34 Times the Fox Comedy Successfully Predicted the Future

From Super Bowl winners to Trump's presidency, the long-running animated series has an uncanny knack for foretelling events.

www.google.com

 

[Falcon75]

How are you going to get to the other side to attach the other end of the zip line?

When the legislature was trying make corner crossing trespassing our wonderful Jennifer Fielder said she was worried about people using jet packs.

jet pack flying. 900,000 was a little steep to get around this issue but would be fun.

 

[teamhoyt]

There's no state law against corner hopping, which means it can't be charged criminally. However it can be charged civilly and the burden of proof falls on the accusing landowner and you could be charged damages. Not sure what the going rate is for damage to the air? If you crossed public to public and the adjoining private was owned by different landowners I don't see how you could be charged civilly as who knows who's air you really went over.

As for keeping surveyors busy, there's 1000s of miles of rivers in this state that need redone and meander lines updated.

For the record I'm neither a surveyor or a lawyer so...don't believe everything you see on the internet without doing your own research