In late 2021, WyoFile began closely covering the case of four Missouri hunters charged with trespassing for stepping over a corner of the Elk Mountain Ranch — without setting foot on private property — to hunt on public land that otherwise would be inaccessible.
A Carbon County jury found them not guilty, but the ranch owner, the wealthy North Carolina pharmaceutical executive Fred Eshelman, sued them in civil court alleging more than $7 million in damages.
WyoFile has closely followed the cases from the start and the stakes for 8.3 million acres of public land in the West.
Browse our corner crossing coverage below with the most recent stories first or watch our video tour of the contested corner.
Bill would make corner crossing legal in Wyoming, settling long-running debate
Measure draws bipartisan group of checkerboard-area Wyoming legislators as co-sponsors.
Corner-crossing case likely headed to Supreme Court, hunters’ attorney says
A decision in the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Ryan Semerad said, is unlikely to end legal saga over access to corner-locked public land.
Federal appeals judges test theory that corner-crossing is not trespassing
In a case that could affect public access to 8.3 million acres of public land in the West, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals hears almost 60 minutes of arguments.
Who are the judges hearing Tuesday’s corner-crossing appeal?
Each has weighed in on contentious cases — Hobby Lobby, horse slaughterhouses, cop gunfights.
Corner crossing, transgender rights to get big day in court, May 14
Two Wyoming legal battles with national interest and implications will share the date in court when both are heard in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ranch owner: Corner crossing would erase billions in private property value
In what could be the last filing in an appeal, Elk Mountain Ranch owner says he’s not blocking access, just preventing trespassing.
Ranch owner’s lawyer off corner-crossing case, now with Wyoming AG
Greg Weisz, who filed hundreds of pages of legal papers in failed lawsuit, no longer represents Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman and now works in the Wyoming Attorney General’s water and natural resources division.
Coalition representing 4 million members backs corner-crossing hunters
Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Sierra Club, GreenLatinos, Western Watersheds Project and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers claim landowners use ‘range-war’ tactics to block access to public land.
Corner-crossing hunters: Cattle King era is over
In response to a suit claiming they trespassed through the airspace of a ranch, four Missouri hunters trace Western legal history that rebuffed landowners blocking access.
Stock growers: Judge in corner-crossing case misunderstood new trespass law
Ranching lobbyist raised questions about ambiguous language in a 2023 bill; now his attorney says a judge erred in interpreting the statute.
Montana group fights Wyoming corner-crossing ruling, claiming broad precedent
Out-of-state property owners support Wyoming’s Elk Mountain Ranch owner, saying a failure to overturn a Wyoming judge’s no-trespass decision will unsettle the entire West.
Corner-crossing appeal: Judge wrongly relied on old case
The owner of Elk Mountain Ranch has asked the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling that states corner crossing is not trespassing.
Corner-crossed landowner hires high-powered appeal attorneys
Denver, DC lawyers join Eshelman team as he challenges Wyoming ruling that hunters did not trespass by passing through his airspace.
Judge rejects request to halt ruling that corner crossing is not trespassing
Federal Judge Scott Skavdahl refuses to grant a stay in ranch owner’s failed civil suit but issues a warning about the limits of his decision.
Corner crossers: Halt of court ruling would harm public’s land access
Four hunters are fighting a Wyoming landowner’s effort to temporarily block a judge’s order that corner crossing is not trespassing.
Two steps back for ranch owner in corner-crossing fight
Because of a “possible jurisdictional defect,” Denver court says Fred Eshelman can’t yet appeal a Wyoming judge’s decision that corner crossing is OK.
Feds walk back BLM boss’ corner crossing directive
Agency in charge of the most “corner-locked” land has not issued a formal directive to implement corner crossing.
‘Devil’s’ postcard prompts request to pause corner-crossing
Alleging threats, ranch owner Eshelman wants the judge who ruled against him to keep corner-crossers at bay while he appeals his case.
Court victories give limited but uncertain protection to corner crossers
Hunters and others are not yet assured they can step through private airspace to reach 8.3 million acres of public property in the West, legal experts say.
Eshelman appeals corner-crossing loss to 10th Circuit
Elk Mountain Ranch owner challenges a federal judge’s decision that stepping through his airspace without touching private land is not trespassing.
Ranch owner in corner-crossing case sues to unmask critic
After J. Doe said Eshelman ‘abused police resources,’ pharma magnate asked a judge to force Google to reveal critic’s true name.
Case history makes it clear: Locking out the public is illegal
The law provides humans, animals and wildlife access to federal public lands, Parsons opines. Court challenges have clarified this.
Corner crossers’ ordeal: surprise, fear, faith
After a judge determined they did not trespass while stepping through the airspace above the corner of a private ranch, Missouri hunters describe their ordeals.
Ranch owner in corner-crossing case drops Waypoint 6 trespass claim
Hunters also agree not to seek attorneys’ fees after judge rules they did not trespass when corner crossing.
Judge decries improper lobbying in corner-crossing case
Skavdahl says “various attempts” were made to offer opinions on how to rule, but that he did not review or consider them.
Judge rules in favor of corner-crossing hunters
Skavdahl dismisses most of the claims made by the owner of the Elk Mountain Ranch who said Missouri hunters trespassed when they stepped over a corner of his Carbon County ranch.
Judge scrutinizes corner-crossing claims at Casper hearing
For the first time, a legal expert questioned opposing sides in a $7 million trespass case that addresses public access to 8.3 million acres of public land in the West.
Corner crossers reject GPS ‘Waypoint 6’ as trespass proof
Mapping app allows users to set digital markers without standing on private land, Missouri hunters assert in fight against ranch owner’s $7M civil suit.
Ranch owner: No $7M claim if judge rules corner crossers trespassed
At Elk Mountain Ranch, Eshelman also says GPS data shows that a hunter marked a waypoint on his property and was not just passing through airspace.
Corner-crossing hunters claim ‘shared airspace’ in trespassing defense
In a federal civil lawsuit that claims more than $7 million in trespass damages, four Missouri hunters tell how they hunted on public land near Elk Mountain Ranch without stepping on private ranch land.
Elk Mountain Ranch owner: ‘We should have control’ of corner-crossing
In depositions filed in a federal lawsuit with implications for access to 8.3 million acres of public land, Fred Eshelman gives his side of the story.
Hunters, landowner, pilot all on corner-crossing trial witness list
In a civil trespassing case, lawyers have named potential witnesses for a trial that seeks $9 million and tests a public-land access claim.
Hunters pan legislative inaction, call for citizen response on corner crossing
Lawmaker reluctant to consider new laws while a $9-million civil suit against four Missouri men is pending in federal court.
Corner-crossing judge: Agent opinion on ranch value irrelevant
A real estate agent’s opinion that hunters should pay financial damages for passing through the airspace of a ranch doesn’t hold water, a judge stated.
Expert: Corner crossing would diminish ranch values ‘at least 30%’
Real estate agent says he would devalue Elk Mountain Ranch by about $9.39 million if a court deems corner crossing legal.
Property tax, corner-crossing lawsuit values differ for Elk Mt. Ranch
Owner Eshelman seeks $7.75 million in damages on a property Carbon County values at $10.9 million.
Hunters claim in filing that courts have OK’d corner crossing
In a civil trial that seeks up to $7.75 million from four Missouri hunters, an advocacy group’s amicus brief says the U.S. Supreme Court has already decided that hop-scotching public land sections is legal.
Lawmakers tackle trespass definitions
Committee recommends removing unconstitutional data-trespass clauses struck down by a court four years ago, expands other forms of trespass.
U.S. attorney: Corner-crossing prosecution didn’t violate hunters’ rights
Wyoming’s top federal prosecutor believes that Carbon County justice officials did not violate federal law when they charged Missouri men with criminal trespass at Elk Mountain Ranch.
Ranch owner: Corner-crossing damages could exceed $7M
In a disclosure statement, an attorney for Elk Mountain Ranch says four hunters diminished the value of the 22,000-acre property by between $3.1 million and $7.75 million when they passed through its airspace.
Corner crossers: Ranch owner broke federal access law
An attorney for four hunters found not guilty of trespassing has for the first time explicitly alleged the owner of the Elk Mountain Ranch violated a U.S. statute.
‘Airspace’ trespass suit advances against corner-crossing hunters
Judge orders the civil suit against Missouri hunters to move toward trial in federal court.
Lawmakers: Fed court will decide if corner-crossing is trespassing
Judiciary Committee declines to address checkerboard-trespass, public-land access questions while Carbon County civil suit is in play.
Judge orders corner-crossing suit to remain in federal court
Skavdahl had ‘little difficulty’ finding that Missouri hunters met the burden of proof to keep the action where federal public-land access laws apply.
National group wants to aid corner crossers in court
Nonprofit Backcountry Hunters & Anglers would bring the resources of its 350,000 members and supporters to bear on a case that could affect access to 8.3 million public acres.
Prosecutor: Dismiss new corner-crossing charges
After a jury found four hunters not guilty, a prosecutor says the “essential facts” in a second round of trespassing charges have already been considered.
Hunters face new corner-crossing trespass charges
A jury found four Missouri men not guilty of trespassing when they corner-crossed in 2021. Now three of them face similar charges stemming from a hunting trip in 2020.
Jury finds four corner-crossing hunters not guilty of trespass
It took fewer than two hours for the panel to acquit Missouri public-land hunters of violating Eshelman’s Elk Mountain Ranch.
Corner-crossing judge wants ‘airspace’ language in jury instructions
Witnesses provide no evidence four hunters ever stepped on Elk Mountain Ranch property in a closely watched trespass case.
Corner crossing jury empaneled, opening arguments delivered
Trial in much-anticipated trespass case begins in front of seven-member jury panel in Rawlins.
Corner crossing report: inaccessible public acres now 8.3M
A digital mapping company says the inventory of public land in the West that is ‘corner-locked’ is much bigger than thought, putting Wyoming’s share at 2.4 million acres.
Judge limits use of body-cam video in corner-crossing trial
Ranch owner Eshelman is on a witness list for two-day Carbon County criminal trespass trial involving Missouri hunters that starts Wednesday.
Judge mulls delay in corner-crossing trial, rejects ‘gag order’
Stipe says she won’t dismiss criminal trespass charges as ranch owner tries to return a separate civil suit from federal to state venue.
Corner-crossing prosecutor: Stop sharing public documents
Deputy county attorney asks judge to “limit prejudicial pretrial communication” after WyoFile published a video contained in court files.
Judge transfers corner-crossing trespass case to federal court
Public access to 1.6 million acres in the West may now be decided under federal, not state laws.
Corner crossers reach for federal court, access to 1.6M Western acres
Four hunters sued for trespassing are asking that the civil complaint be moved from state to federal court where access laws set by Congress might better apply.
Corner-cross landowner gave millions to conservatives, conservation
Fred Eshelman made millions, conserved ranches and donated heavily, including one $2.5M to help ‘stop the steal.’
Corner-crossing video: ‘Do they realize how much money my boss has?’
Body cam shows Game and Fish officer, sheriff’s deputy explaining why they won’t charge hunters as Elk Mountain Ranch manager protests. Citations eventually came.
Corner crossers face new civil suit as prosecutor tries to add charge
The controversy over four bowhunters challenging criminal trespass charges intensifies as landowner Fredric Eshelman filed a civil suit seeking monetary damages from the Missouri men.
Crago: Trespass bill not a ‘corner-crossing’ measure
A lawmaker plans to clarify the language in a proposed bill, which he stressed Tuesday is not aimed to address controversial corner crossing.
Corner-crossing bill emerges as G&F commissioner pulls license donation
Proposed legislation would more broadly define hunter trespass as the Game and Fish Commission president seeks to distance himself from the fraught issue.
Hunters allege illegal harassment in corner-crossing case
Hunters who have pleaded not guilty to criminal trespass charges claim that it is ranch operators who broke the law by harassing them while on public land.
Corner-crossing defendants move for dismissal of trespass charges
A closely watched case regarding public land presumably locked up by checkerboard ownership should be dismissed, defendants’ attorney argues.
Corner crossing: Hunters challenge public-land access issue in court
Four tickets issued to hunters could open the door to revisiting whether almost 1.6 million public acres are legally landlocked in checkerboard land ownership patterns across the West.