Trespassing?

[MADMAX]

Never hurts to ask
Better to do before season
 

[509]

Go to the county assessor's web site and look at it on the map. If there is an easement, it will show up on there.

The assessors site will show roads but it does NOT say if there is an easement through the property. Title Company can run a preliminary Title report and it will show if there is a recorded easement through the property and to whom the easement is for..Lots of State Land has  easements for DNR only--- through private property but the easement does not mean that the public has legal access also....Just knock on the guys door and ask....he's probably used to it.
Also, it looks like the road ends before it gets to the state land....so you will need permission from that land owner.

I have easements through my property for the BPA to maintain powerlines, it is not for the public to use.  I also have easements for DNR employees to cross my property to get to certain areas of theirs for maintenance and logging, again the easement is not for public use.  Finally I have easements for roads that adjacent property owners need to use to access their properties, but not for the general public to use.

It is always best to ask and not assume.

Yeah, it depends on the Government agency.

Forest Service will NOT purchase an easement unless it gives the public rights of access to public land.

BLM will in some cases purchase a easement for government use only.....

I have run into TWO cases in Washington state where the road GOES THROUGH the middle of a home site with the house on one side and the garage on the other!!!

One case, it is a county road.  In the other case, the COE had a public easement to access public land on the other side of the home site.

I do wish that local, state, and Federal agencies be required to post easements across private land.  The TAXPAYERS PAID for the easements!!!  In many cases, folks turn around just because it "looks private".

I do know in one case.  The Forest Service has an easement.  I looked it up in the Forest Service road atlas.

It is a FOREST SERVICE gate on the road.  The landowner posted the property as private.  Totally correct. 

He did NOT post it as NO TRESPASSING because YOU have a legal right which the TAXPAYERS BOUGHT to cross his land to access land managed by the Forest Service.

Good luck in determining the right course of action. 

Really public easements NEED to be posted by PUBLIC landowners.

NO TRESPASSING signs need to have a contact name and address on the sign.  You don't want to know how many times I have run into public land being posted with NO TRESPASSING signs.

There should be a LARGE FINE for posting public land as private.

[fireweed]

Foresters run into these funky easements through someones backyard all the time.  Hasn't been logged in 40 years, timber company sells off the frontage by the public road but keeps and easement to all their timberland in the "back".  Homes then get built next to this old road, thinking they are way out in the quiet country.  Sometimes its even a housing development!  A few years pass and then *presto* log trucks start going by at 4 am.  Homeowners are "not happy" but can't do much about it except complain about noise, dust, mud, etc.  (Which they do in abundance). 

Also many DNR easements written between 1967 and 1985 were intended to include public access. Read about it on this site:  http://apps.kidvalley.com/Blog/

[Macs B]

Go to the county assessor's web site and look at it on the map. If there is an easement, it will show up on there.

The assessors site will show roads but it does NOT say if there is an easement through the property. Title Company can run a preliminary Title report and it will show if there is a recorded easement through the property and to whom the easement is for..Lots of State Land has  easements for DNR only--- through private property but the easement does not mean that the public has legal access also....Just knock on the guys door and ask....he's probably used to it.
Also, it looks like the road ends before it gets to the state land....so you will need permission from that land owner.

I have easements through my property for the BPA to maintain powerlines, it is not for the public to use.  I also have easements for DNR employees to cross my property to get to certain areas of theirs for maintenance and logging, again the easement is not for public use.  Finally I have easements for roads that adjacent property owners need to use to access their properties, but not for the general public to use.

It is always best to ask and not assume.

I'll second this one.  Between farm lands and forest lands I have easements and access agreements between several agencies and even more private companies.  None of them are for the general public's use.  Always ask the land owner, if you can't find a land owner then move on, if the land owner says "NO" then move on.  Too many people think their tax money makes them a land owner when it really does not.

[Rainier10]

Go to the county assessor's web site and look at it on the map. If there is an easement, it will show up on there.

The assessors site will show roads but it does NOT say if there is an easement through the property. Title Company can run a preliminary Title report and it will show if there is a recorded easement through the property and to whom the easement is for..Lots of State Land has  easements for DNR only--- through private property but the easement does not mean that the public has legal access also....Just knock on the guys door and ask....he's probably used to it.
Also, it looks like the road ends before it gets to the state land....so you will need permission from that land owner.

I have easements through my property for the BPA to maintain powerlines, it is not for the public to use.  I also have easements for DNR employees to cross my property to get to certain areas of theirs for maintenance and logging, again the easement is not for public use.  Finally I have easements for roads that adjacent property owners need to use to access their properties, but not for the general public to use.

It is always best to ask and not assume.

I'll second this one.  Between farm lands and forest lands I have easements and access agreements between several agencies and even more private companies.  None of them are for the general public's use.  Always ask the land owner, if you can't find a land owner then move on, if the land owner says "NO" then move on.  Too many people think their tax money makes them a land owner when it really does not.

  Plus they have been doing it forever or someone they know has been doing forever and tells them there is access when there really isn't.  Just because there is public access on one road to DNR doesn't mean all roads have public access.  Just because there is public access to one powerline road doesn't mean all powerline roads are public.  It is always best to ask and never a good idea to tell the property they are wrong if you haven't consulted an attorney or title company about a specific piece of land and easement road.

[fireweed]

Over and over and over timber companies are "telling" people their easements with the DNR are for administrative use only, but nobody is going out and reading the easements.  The idea that none of these were intended for public access just ain't so.  Each easement needs to be read in full.
 
Don't tell me I'm wrong, show me where I'm wrong, on the actual document.

[Rainier10]

So let me see if I have this straight.  I pay a ton of money for a bunch of land.  I then pay a ton of money every year after that in property taxes for the right to continue to own my land.  On top of that I have to provide the documentation to everyone that wants access through my land that they don't have access when there is a sign from DNR that says "authorized vehicles only beyond this sign"?

Just trying to gage what my responsibility is to "joe hunter" that wants to come through my place because there is a road there that if you look up on the DNR says no public access.

It's really not that hard to do a little leg work yourself.  It's not like you have invested any money in the land you want to get access through.  It's not like you pay property tax on that land every year.  Heck for a few hundred dollars you could get a title report and see that there is no public access if you really wanted to get into the weeds of it all.  But rather than do the work yourself to find out if you are wrong you think the property owner should provide the documentation to you for you to read and review?

I will agree with you that all of the easements aren't written the same and each easement should be read in full.  Where I disagree is who should be burdened with providing the documentation proving their point.

I know what my easement says and I have proven it time and time again.  It gets old real quick having the same discussion with people who want me to show them they are wrong.

[Dan-o]

So let me see if I have this straight.  I pay a ton of money for a bunch of land.  I then pay a ton of money every year after that in property taxes for the right to continue to own my land.  On top of that I have to provide the documentation to everyone that wants access through my land that they don't have access when there is a sign from DNR that says "authorized vehicles only beyond this sign"?

Just trying to gage what my responsibility is to "joe hunter" that wants to come through my place because there is a road there that if you look up on the DNR says no public access.

It's really not that hard to do a little leg work yourself.  It's not like you have invested any money in the land you want to get access through.  It's not like you pay property tax on that land every year.  Heck for a few hundred dollars you could get a title report and see that there is no public access if you really wanted to get into the weeds of it all.  But rather than do the work yourself to find out if you are wrong you think the property owner should provide the documentation to you for you to read and review?

I will agree with you that all of the easements aren't written the same and each easement should be read in full.  Where I disagree is who should be burdened with providing the documentation proving their point.

I know what my easement says and I have proven it time and time again.  It gets old real quick having the same discussion with people who want me to show them they are wrong.

You would make a lousy Socialist.

[OutHouse]

So let me see if I have this straight.  I pay a ton of money for a bunch of land.  I then pay a ton of money every year after that in property taxes for the right to continue to own my land.  On top of that I have to provide the documentation to everyone that wants access through my land that they don't have access when there is a sign from DNR that says "authorized vehicles only beyond this sign"?

Just trying to gage what my responsibility is to "joe hunter" that wants to come through my place because there is a road there that if you look up on the DNR says no public access.

It's really not that hard to do a little leg work yourself.  It's not like you have invested any money in the land you want to get access through.  It's not like you pay property tax on that land every year.  Heck for a few hundred dollars you could get a title report and see that there is no public access if you really wanted to get into the weeds of it all.  But rather than do the work yourself to find out if you are wrong you think the property owner should provide the documentation to you for you to read and review?

I will agree with you that all of the easements aren't written the same and each easement should be read in full.  Where I disagree is who should be burdened with providing the documentation proving their point.

I know what my easement says and I have proven it time and time again.  It gets old real quick having the same discussion with people who want me to show them they are wrong.

Its definitely not your burden in that regard. I agree just get a title report or the plat map. The plat map will show easements of record at the time it was created and the only other easement would be by deed, probably from the original land owner to the public but that basically never happens.

[Rainier10]

  a socialist I am not.

I am however passionate about property rights and have done tons of research on mine as well as those that are important to my access.  I always try to research it myself and see if what I am being told is true.

[buckcanyonlodge]

Being in  the real estate business the first thing I look for once I get the preliminary title report are Easements. I always do a Title Contingency on offers I write. Easements can be very confusing and I have had to make special trips to the title co. to work them out. People buying property usually DO NOT like easements on property they are buying. If I can explain to the buyers where the easements are and who they are for they can then make a decision if the easement is a deal killer.

[fireweed]

These broadly worded easements are much more likely to be between a large corporate landowner (Weyerhaeuser, Burlington Northern, International Paper, Rayonier etc) and the state.  These companies used a template from the Washington Forest Protection Assoc. The wording was modified after laws favorable to recreation and landowners became law in mid-1967.  Smaller private landowners less likely to use this boilerplate language, and are more likely to be more restricted IF the parcel was historically always in the hands of small landowners.  However, if a big timber company once owned the land and had an easement with the state, then all bets are off.

[Smossy]

Id say it was perfectly fine as long as your not stopping or doing anything on private land, Most rural private land owners know that this is a thing and they will typically fence off stuff they dont want people moving through. In the case of a fence, stay out. If its open land, my thought is its ok as long as you respect it and know where your going... Not just driving deep into someones private property to turn around. Scouting before hand comes into play big time. Really these days with things like google maps led alone google earth and onxmaps, theres no excuse to not know where you are anymore.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Even if it is legal, it is still better to knock and ask.
.

[mburrows]

Rainier is 100% spot on.

My general rule is if it looks like a drive way and it’s not a named county road, stop and ask. If it’s a named/numbered  road then you’re probably good but certainly never hurts to stop and be friendly. antelope hunting in Montana I deployed this tactic and it led to me accessing private land in addition to the public, only stipulation was do not touch the mule deer lol.

The good old gut instinct is a solid indicator. If you feel like you should ask, ask.

With that said, there are more official ways to verify but if I’m out on the fly the general rule is don’t do it if it feels remotely like it might be trespassing. Just part of the game