Texas billionaire brothers block another Idaho road, prompting criticism over public access

[DAOutfitters208]

FYI

https://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/article231467743.html

 

[fire652]

There’s an easy solution eminent domain.


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[Mike7]

How are these not cases of prescriptive easement?

 

[jspradley]

I can't see how anyone can make a case for blocking access to a publicly owned road. If they want to block access to their property (which is 100% their right) they should be responsible for fencing the entire property line on either side of the road

 

[Trial153]

Douche bags. Give them another year or two and they will be busy buying Ted Cruz again..

 

[wapitibob]

"“If an easement exists (for road 645), we haven’t found it yet,” district ranger Jake Strohmeyer said. "

 

[Salmon River Solutions]

They have a ton of land all over the place in Idaho, Montana, etc.

This drives me crazy. They can block access to so many public areas because the public land is land locked inside there private land. That makes that land NOT PUBLIC!

Government should sell inaccessible public lands and put it toward a public land fund. Idaho state buys leases and also buys land outright for the public to use.


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[cuerro viejo]

"“If an easement exists (for road 645), we haven’t found it yet,” district ranger Jake Strohmeyer said. "

Looks like the brothers have spent a bunch of money researching their easements, I have a feeling going forward they won’t make to many mistakes.

 

[Btaylor]

They have a ton of land all over the place in Idaho, Montana, etc.

This drives me crazy. They can block access to so many public areas because the public land is land locked inside there private land. That makes that land NOT PUBLIC!

Government should sell inaccessible public lands and put it toward a public land fund. Idaho state buys leases and also buys land outright for the public to use.


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No they should not. If they can arrange and equal landswap that would be one thing. If the owner is unwilling to negotiate, then the Gov should eminent domain an easement to the public land.

 

[Reburn]

I think this is pretty funny.
#1 good job forest service not having an easement. You better hope your federal government has it lawyers getting easements drafted up now. It wont take long for others to figure out this trick.
#2 You can't really be mad at someone who played the game by the rules and won.
#3 There is public land all over the western states and 100 year ground leases. What do you propose cutting a road through all these ranches to access 100 acres of public land? The construction cost alone would be astronomical.
#4 so you hunted there and now can't because a land owner worked within the law on their own property?
#5 Its still public land. You just must access through private to get there. And cant trespass.

 

[Midwest.Bushlore]

No they should not. If they can arrange and equal landswap that would be one thing. If the owner is unwilling to negotiate, then the Gov should eminent domain an easement to the public land.

B-b-but that would be socialism! Just kidding. I agree 100% with you, not to seize all their land, just a right-of-way. Precedents in common law go back a long ways. ID has a great thing going, I'd hate to see them lose it. It was an unpleasant surprise moving from ID where access to vast swaths of public land was easy to Bozman where it's a lot more difficult.

 

[Midwest.Bushlore]

#5 Its still public land. You just must access through private to get there. And cant trespass.

True! You can still parachute in and pay a helo for extraction. It's your own fault if you were unwise enough to be too poor.

 

[Tick]

"“If an easement exists (for road 645), we haven’t found it yet,” district ranger Jake Strohmeyer said. "

Put a gate on property they own. World is not fair.

 

[fire652]

B-b-but that would be socialism! Just kidding. I agree 100% with you, not to seize all their land, just a right-of-way. Precedents in common law go back a long ways. ID has a great thing going, I'd hate to see them lose it. It was an unpleasant surprise moving from ID where access to vast swaths of public land was easy to Bozman where it's a lot more difficult.

I’m moving to Montana. Is it that difficult to access land. I see all types of public hunting spots


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[IdahoHntr]

I think it should be noted that an easement wasn't apparent on the last gate they put up, but after some digging, there was an easement on that particular road and the gate was in fact illegal. NOTHING was done of course. So why not try it again? Just keep closing off roads since there is no punishment for closing off public access. Some easements might be found, some might not, but either way its a win/win for the Wilks brothers. They don't have to do any of the research and they might just score themselves some of the public's land in the process.

There needs to be major fines for blocking access to public land. Just as severe (if not more severe) as trespassing.

 

[Wrench]

Someone will get pissed off and burn them out if they keep it up. That land isn't worth squat if it's charcoal.

 

[Trial153]

When you can buy a United States Senator your not worried about fighting off a prescribed easement via litigation.

 

[cuerro viejo]

When you can buy a United States Senator your not worried about fighting off a prescribed easement via litigation.

How many times has that property been for sale?

 

[Rob5589]

Honest question; how is a fire/state/BLM road different than a major hwy that runs through someone's land? Certainly ID would not allow them to block a hwy/paved road if it ran through their property.

 

[Reburn]

I think it should be noted that an easement wasn't apparent on the last gate they put up, but after some digging, there was an easement on that particular road and the gate was in fact illegal. NOTHING was done of course. So why not try it again? Just keep closing off roads since there is no punishment for closing off public access. Some easements might be found, some might not, but either way its a win/win for the Wilks brothers. They don't have to do any of the research and they might just score themselves some of the public's land in the process.

There needs to be major fines for blocking access to public land. Just as severe (if not more severe) as trespassing.

I agree with this if its true. If there is a valid easement its a jerk move.