Satellite Scouting Question

Octang

FNG
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Apr 14, 2017
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17
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Wisconsin
I'm hoping you guys can clear something up for me. I am doing some internet scouting of some units I hope to be hunting this fall. After talking to a game warden he pointed me to some county GIS mapservers that show all of the legal county roads to drive on to reach various patches of public land.

However, my confusion is from looking at the BLM and state lands I am seeing tons of dirt roads crisscrossing them that aren't shown on the county maps (screenshot shows one random example), and since they are buried in public land, I wouldn't think they are privately owned rancher roads.(?)

MzaCGD6.jpg


Anyone have any idea what is up with these? I am trying to find remote areas I can hike to, so I'm not sure what type of traffic to expect on these random roads cutting through the middle of large patches of BLM land.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.
 

Tod osier

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Fairfield County, CT Sublette County, WY
Those random roads are very likely roads that will have traffic on them if they are on BLM. What you see is typical if you have not had boots on ground in that type of area before. Once you have the area pinned down, I would get the BLM maps that cover the unit - the official/legal roads/two tracks will be shown there - I have found the BLM maps a good resource in the areas I've used them. What you are looking for/at matters, - if it is large areas of BLM with roads criss-crossing all over, those roads are usually all open. If you are looking at a highly checker boarded area with lots of private and you are looking for roads to access BLM locked in private, those roads are a different matter and need to be confirmed for legality if there is a question .
 

wyosteve

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Some of the roads may be for access to oil/gas well sites and may or may not be accessible for the public. Just keep in mind, as mentioned above, if you have to cross private to access BLM, you might not be able to.
 
OP
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Octang

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Wisconsin
Is anyone able to direct me where to find the proper BLM map that will show all these random dirt roads? I found this map on the BLM website, but it shows the same roads as the other maps I've viewed: ArcGIS Web Application
 

Tod osier

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Fairfield County, CT Sublette County, WY
Is anyone able to direct me where to find the proper BLM map that will show all these random dirt roads? I found this map on the BLM website, but it shows the same roads as the other maps I've viewed: ArcGIS Web Application

What I'm talking about are BLM Surface Management maps, they are are 1:100K and available through the BLM. They show land ownership and lots of other useful details for someone from out of the area. I have always bought them from a field office, since I'm usually on the phone with them to ask questions about the area or I stop by and get them when in the area. The local Sporting goods store often has them as well (SW often has them for the surrounding area in the locations I've been to). I have not ordered online, but I'm sure you can. There are usually other useful resources at the field office that you can if you are on the phone and ask - campgrounds for water and dump stations, things like that.
 
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Octang

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Joined
Apr 14, 2017
Messages
17
Location
Wisconsin
What I'm talking about are BLM Surface Management maps, they are are 1:100K and available through the BLM. They show land ownership and lots of other useful details for someone from out of the area. I have always bought them from a field office, since I'm usually on the phone with them to ask questions about the area or I stop by and get them when in the area. The local Sporting goods store often has them as well (SW often does). I have not ordered online, but I'm sure you can. There are usually other useful resources at the field office that you can if you are on the phone and ask - campgrounds for water and dump stations, things like that.

Thanks for the clarification, I found what you are talking about! Looks like I can order them online for $8. I'll save the link and order it after I draw my tags.
 
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You need the county road map to find out which roads are maintained by the county. Those are the only roads that you can legally drive on to cross private property. Those other roads are what they call two-track roads. You can only drive on those roads when they are on public property, like state or BLM land.

Think of it like this. When traveling down the interstate you cross private property all the time. The land owner might own both side of the highway, but you can cross the property. You can't get out and hunt or even set foot on the property without trespassing. If you get on two track road. You can drive on that road as long as you are on public property. If that road cross private property, you cannot continue.

I hope this helps.

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541hunter

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Jul 20, 2016
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You need the county road map to find out which roads are maintained by the county. Those are the only roads that you can legally drive on to cross private property. Those other roads are what they call two-track roads. You can only drive on those roads when they are on public property, like state or BLM land.

Think of it like this. When traveling down the interstate you cross private property all the time. The land owner might own both side of the highway, but you can cross the property. You can't get out and hunt or even set foot on the property without trespassing. If you get on two track road. You can drive on that road as long as you are on public property. If that road cross private property, you cannot continue.

I hope this helps.

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Just a heads up.... this is not always the case. You can have a private road on blm and not be able to drive on it. Happens quite often in Western Oregon.


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Just a heads up.... this is not always the case. You can have a private road on blm and not be able to drive on it. Happens quite often in Western Oregon.


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How is it possible to have a private road owned by the government? That would be a hard trespassing ticket to eat.

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541hunter

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How is it possible to have a private road owned by the government? That would be a hard trespassing ticket to eat.

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There are a lot of roads to maintain, in some cases the blm will sell the rights to a road so they won't have to maintain it anymore. Other cases is when a private part builds a road through blm under an agreement the private party retains control of the road. A quick example would be like someone owning a 80 acre piece that is land locked by the blm. Through an agreement that party is allowed to build a road to access their 80 acres. They retain the rights to control access to that road. The flip side is there is a blm mainline that just so happens to run through their the 80 acres, the blm retains control.


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There are a lot of roads to maintain, in some cases the blm will sell the rights to a road so they won't have to maintain it anymore. Other cases is when a private part builds a road through blm under an agreement the private party retains control of the road.


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Gotcha, thank you for the clarification. I was totally unaware anything like that happens.

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robby denning

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In most places in the BLm wasn't very good about preventing new roads made by rouge ATVers. In other words, a lot of abuse occurred in the last 30 years and there are so many roads out there that will not be showing on any BLM map. That's why the satellite maps don't match up with the BLM maps in many places. The satellite maps most accurate IMO


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