Perkins Gulch Road, Deer Lodge County, Montana
Perkins Gulch Road Summary
RESOLUTION ACCOMPLISHED
Perkins Gulch Road has existed since 1869. The road is located just east of Eastside Road, about 2 miles northwest of Warm Springs, in Deer Lodge County. In 1959 the Lamperts acquired land with the Perkins Gulch Road running through it.
In July 2004, the Lampert family locked a gate at the entrance to Perkins Gulch Road. Another landowner, Bernie Schillo, cut the lock. Schillo and three other landowners (Plaintiffs), Beck, Hiltz and Davis, sued the Lamperts to establish their right to access their property via the Perkins Gulch Road in the Montana Third Judicial District Court in Deer Lodge County. The Lamperts challenged both private and public easements to use the road, not only for them to access their own land, but for everyone to access Forest Service land where the road eventually leads.
“The District Court conducted a two-day bench trial on May 28, 2008.” Based on evidence presented, the District Court, Judge Ray Dayton, concluded that the plaintiffs “had established a private and a public prescriptive right to use the Perkins Gulch Road to access homes, residences, and for agricultural purposes, cattle ranching, logging, hunting and recreation, Forest Service access and mining.” The plaintiffs and their predecessors had used Perkins Gulch to access their properties since the 1800s. Testimony was provided by landowners and others that the Perkins Gulch Road was also used by loggers hauling timber, Forest Service personnel, ranchers, members of the public accessing the Forest, and had been repaired with public monies. “Testimonies from members of the Lampert family were described as ‘not consistent,’ ‘contradictory’ and ‘evasive.’ ”
The District Court ruled in favor of the Shillos Plaintiffs on March 25, 2009, in support of a prescriptive easement. “The District Court found evidence that there has been continuous and uninterrupted use of the Perkins Gulch Road since the 1940s to access residences of people living in Perkins Gulch, as well as to access National Forest lands.” The Judge’s Conclusions of Law stated, “14. Defendants have no right to interfere or otherwise obstruct Plaintiffs’ and/or the public’s use of Perkins Gulch Road.” The Judge then ordered, “that both a private and a public prescriptive easement for Plaintiffs’ and the public’s benefit have arisen, by operation of law, across Perkins Gulch Road,” the scope being, “access to homes/residences on all properties served by Perkins Gulch Road, for agricultural purposes, for cattle ranching, for logging, for hunting and recreational purposes, for access to Forest Service, and for mining.”
On April 23, 2009, the Lamperts appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. Chief Justice Mike McGrath delivered the Supreme Court’s Opinion on December 8, 2009. “There clearly is sufficient evidence to support the District Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.”
Although PLWA was not a party to this action, the results were extremely favorable to the access cause.
Read the case files here: