Montana Governor's Office Says Corner Crossing is Trespassing

In 2025, a federal court declared corner crossing (the act of moving from one checker-boarded piece of public land to another at the corner where they meet) legal in six states. Public land advocates in the hunting community and beyond celebrated the ruling. But it also raised questions about how the corner crossing debate will shake out in other western states with checker-boarded public land—like Montana. On May 13, the Treasure State’s Lieutenant Governor, Kristin Juris, waded into the fray, telling the Montana Environmental Quality Council in a presentation that Corner Crossing is tantamount to trespass.

“Juras spelled out her reasoning with a series of slides and references to past court rulings, prefacing her comments by noting she previously taught property law,” the Billings Gazette reports. Her remarks sparked immediate opposition from local access groups, like the Montana Wildlife Federation.

“Despite the one-sided presentation, lawmakers didn’t provide the clarity on corner crossing that Montanans need,” said Frank Szollosi, Executive Director of the Montana Wildlife Federation, in a statement shared with Field & Stream. “This meeting room wasn’t a courtroom. There were no new laws passed. Despite the Lieutenant Governor’s interpretation, it appears that corner crossing in Montana remains a true legal gray area. The bottom line is that certainty is needed for all stakeholders — including hunters, landowners, wardens, prosecutors, and public land managers.”

In January 2026, Montana FWP issued an internal memo declaring that “corner crossing remains unlawful in Montana.” That was first time the state agency has signaled support for the idea that corner crossing should be viewed as a crime.

Pushback

Speaking with Field & Stream during a phone interview, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers President and CEO Ryan Callaghan echoed Szollosi’s sentiments about Juris’ recent remarks. “What people have got to understand here is that Montana’s Lieutenant Governor is going around offering her opinion [on Corner Crossing],” Callaghan said. “And Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks has been instructed to reflect that opinion, and it is not law. You cannot create a law like that in the state of Montana.”

Callaghan said the May 13 meeting was his first chance to hear Juris’ presentation in person, during an early morning meeting at the statehouse in Helena. “She’s been giving these presentations and promoting the idea that Corner Crossing is illegal and always has been in Montana,” he says. “I was a little confused. I was waiting for this big ‘a-ha’ moment, but it never came. It just came down to the Governor’s Office’s interpretation of Corner Crossing.”

Callaghan and BHA have long been at the forefront of the Corner Crossing debate nationwide. The group was instrumental in the Wyoming court case (involving four Missouri men who were hunting deer and elk on checkerboard land in Wyoming) that ultimately led to the legalization of corner crossing in the 10th Circuit states of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Kansas, Utah, and Oklahoma.

Regardless of the confusion, Callaghan says it’s time for a resolution to the corner crossing debate in Montana that addresses the concerns of both landowners and access seekers. “Let’s get this properly defined,” he adds, “and focus on this huge middle ground that we have and move on.”

A New Lawsuit

In a profound show of support of legalized Corner Crossing beyond just the 10th Circuit, BHA has joined forces with the Public Land and Water Access Association (PLWA) to directly challenge the Montana Governor’s office’s current stance on Corner Crossing. A day after Juris’ presentation BHA and PLWA filed legal action “to cement the legality of corner crossing in Montana and secure access to approximately 871,000 acres of public land.”

“For generations, Montanans have responsibly corner crossed to hunt, fish, and recreate on public lands without ever being found guilty of trespass. FWP’s recent memo now declares corner crossing unlawful, and in a major reversal from previous guidance, has instructed game wardens to issue citations for criminal trespass or hunting without landowner permission to anyone who
accesses public land this way,” BHA stated in a recent Instagram post. “Our lawsuit challenges that administrative overreach and seeks a durable path forward for law abiding citizens to hunt and access their shared public lands while ensuring private property rights are respected.”

Field & Stream will continue to follow the Corner Crossing saga as it unfolds in Montana and the rest of the 9th Circuit states.

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