Ranch owner: Corner-crossing damages could exceed $7M

Wow that is so dumb. Guys hopped over a foot of his property so now his property is worth significantly less. Obviously the guy's never had a telephone pole on his property. Or has any roads abutting his property.

 

I really don’t understand what the land owner is really trying to achieve with this. I doubt it’s just about the money. If I owned it, I’d happily modify the fence in that corner to allow easy pass through, but I also don’t think public land should be landlocked with no legal access.

 

I can see both sides of this argument...

The ranchers land was indeed tresspassed upon, and without a legal access easment in place this is illegal.

I also believe that outdoorsman have a right to access public lands. However if there is ANY other point of access to that section of public land, then they were 100% in the wrong.

This is not an justifiable excuse to trespass... Power companies have to get an easement to run lines across private property. The same applies to roads, gas lines, or anything else not controlled by a land owner.

Were I the land owner I would have long ago built a proper fence crossing to facilitate the corner hopping... But everything else in the area would be heavily posted as no tresspassing. I would have done this because I am a hunter and want to encourage others to participate in the outdoors. But I'm also a firm believer in private property. In this particular case it would be far less stressful and expensive for me to provide an easy way to access the public land at a point I decide upon and can control, than for me to have to go fix fence after some ###hole cuts it or runs it over. But such an access across my land would be within my control and I could close it at any point in time that I saw fit.

 

I'm going to guess he has grazing rights to that BLM land and likes to think of it as his property. The public should have access to public land that's what BLM lad is, public land.

 

Anyone have a satellite view of where this occurred?
And incidentally,IIRC “airspace” from the ground up in the good ol USA falls under the jurisdiction of the FAA-even on private property.

 

I only mention easements because it is similarly, if not more, disturbing to your private property. Yet he would likely not try to charge millions of dollars for property damage for a telephone or road shoulder.