Western ‘checkerboard’ lands to be discussed at Western Ag & Environmental Law Conference
Wyoming attorneys Ryan Semerad and Karen Budd-Falen will present the session.
By Drew Viguet
National Agricultural Law Center
U of A System Division of Agriculture
May 24, 2024
Fast facts:
- Session at NALC’s Western Conference focuses on public access, private property
- Karen Budd-Falen, Ryan Semerad presenting
- Conference registration is online
(525 words)
(Newsrooms: with art of Semerad and Budd-Falen, file art of checkerboard map)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Congressional action in the 1800s divided large swaths of land
in the American West into squares of public and private property, creating both a
checkerboard pattern and confusion over what’s legal when it comes to land use.
The companion to this checkerboarding is an issue known as “corner crossings,” where
people pass through multiple types of lands while traveling from one destination to
another. This raises questions for landowners who may own land that is mixed into
the checkerboard.
“All sorts of questions arise with checkerboard lands and corner crossings,” Ryan
Semerad, managing member of Wyoming law firm Fuller & Semerad, LLC, said. “Can strangers walk through your fields and rangelands? Can landowners keep
the public off public lands and out of waterways? Is ‘corner crossing’ legal, illegal,
or something else?”
According to onX, Wyoming has 2.44 million acres of corner-locked lands, which it defines as “Public
land that is inaccessible to the general public because there is no public road or
trail to get there AND because the legality of corner-crossing remains unclear.” This
is the most of any state. Following Wyoming is Nevada with 1.93 million acres, which
is then followed by Arizona and Montana.
Semerad is presenting a session on public access and private property in the West
at the Western Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference alongside Karen Budd-Falen,
senior partner and owner of Wyoming’s Budd-Falen Law Offices. The two will discuss issues of access, navigability and private property rights
permeating the West’s checkerboard lands. The session is titled “Streambeds, Game
Trails, & Corner Crossings: Public Access & Private Property.”
The conference, hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center, will be held on June 13-14 at the University of Nevada, Reno, with a livestream option available. Registration and agenda are available online.
Budd-Falen, who previously served under the Trump Administration as Deputy Solicitor
for Wildlife and Parks in the U.S. Department of the Interior, spoke at last year’s inaugural Western Conference. She is a member of the NALC’s
Western Ag Industry Advisory Board, which was established in 2023 to increase partnerships and outreach from the NALC
to the Western U.S.
“Ryan and I look forward to this session on a unique topic in Western U.S. agriculture,”
Budd-Falen said. “We will provide a balanced and practical overview of the competing
interests and stakeholders in the Checkerboard.”
Harrison Pittman, director of the NALC, said that conference attendees will hear great
insight from Semerad and Budd-Falen.
“Ryan and Karen are experts in Western agricultural law, and excellent choices to
lead this presentation on an important topic to Western agriculture,” Harrison Pittman,
director of the NALC, said. “It’s a very unique issue to the West. I know they will
present information that is useful to a wide variety of ag attorneys and professionals.”
Continuing education available
The Western Conference has been approved for continuing legal education credit in
Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Oregon, and will be submitted for CLE approval in Arizona
and California. The conference has also been approved for continuing education by
the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The NALC will coordinate
with attendees to self-report in other states.
For information about the National Agricultural Law Center, visit nationalaglawcenter.org or follow @Nataglaw on X. The National Agricultural Law Center is also on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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About the National Agricultural Law Center
The National Agricultural Law Center serves as the nation’s leading source of agricultural
and food law research and information. The NALC works with producers, state and federal
policymakers, Congressional staffers, attorneys, land grant universities, and many
others to provide objective, nonpartisan agricultural and food law research and information
to the nation’s agricultural community.
The NALC is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and
works in close partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Agricultural
Library.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen
agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption
of best practices. The Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work
within the nation’s historic land grant education system through the Agricultural
Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas
System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is an equal opportunity/equal
access/affirmative action institution. If you require a reasonable accommodation to
participate or need materials in another format, please contact dviguet@uark.edu as
soon as possible. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.
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Media contact:
Drew Viguet
Communications & Special Projects Coordinator
National Agricultural Law Center
dviguet@uark.edu