General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A pharma millionaire is suing four hunters for $7 million, and the results will have ahuge impact [View all]yonder
(9,657 posts)as are many other wealthy groups throughout the West. Several years ago the Texas-based, fracking-fortuned Wilks Brothers started buying privately held former range/timberland, closing off historical access to and through public land while aggressively monitoring how their holdings are approached. In some cases, they tried gating access roads and ignoring prescriptive rights-of-way only to be reversed by agencies or the courts.
Though I'm not aware of trespassing prosecutions or civil suits as severe as this Wyoming situation, a few years ago the Idaho legislature made penalties for trespassing much more severe, in some cases allowing for felony prosecution. Coincidentally or not, this legislation was introduced and passed at about the same time the "brotherhood" started buying up what they could.
I expect to see more of this.