Research Is The Key

Citizens of the United States of America cannot travel from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Border or from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Coast, without crossing private property on an easement granted by that private landowner to the public. Think about it, the minute you leave your private property you enter on to an easement granted from a private landowner to a public entity that allows you to travel across the private land. This is why the question has to be asked, why are the last few miles, yards, or in some cases the last few feet, to the public land closed to the public? In many instances these road closures that are within a short distance to the public lands may be public roads.

For decades, the Public Land/Water Access Association has been involved in gathering evidence to present to county officials relative to the right of way status of roads in Montana. At times, there has been misinformation that leads people to believe we establish road rights of way. This is not true. Here is what we do endeavor to accomplish.

Records Investigation

When we hear of possible illegal closures, we work with reporting individuals to investigate the county, state and federal public records to determine the status of the closed road. In some instances we find that the road is not private, because:

• An easement may be on record.

• It is a public road by the petitioning process.

• It is a road the county has maintained and the public has traveled for several years without asking permission,

• Or it may be a public road because of prescriptive use.

• It also may be a public road based on Revised Statute 2477 (RS 2477), which is a law passed by Congress in 1867, which granted easements for roads across “Public Domain” prior to patent.

The Public Land/Water Access Association does not create, own, buy or have any authority for a public right of way. We do sometimes work with groups or individuals to facilitate these processes. However, if there are no records indicating the road is a public road, we have no authority to declare a road open to the public, accept any responsibility for its maintenance or compel law enforcement to take action. If the record search indicates a question as to the title of the road, we gather the data and present it to the county and asked them for a legal opinion on the evidence we found.

Learn more about the initial steps you can take if you suspect a road is illegally closed. If you have already gone through the recommended steps and reached out to your local authorities, or it if the access point is already recorded as an easement, you can report a closure or access complaint to PLWA.

Public Roads

Investigate

Download our brochure that teaches you the basic steps our members and constituents can take to get the investigation process started.

River, Stream & Spring Creek Access

Public Lands

Hunting & Angling