I inquired with the FS regarding easement with Longview fiber and they said no formal easement was in place.
That might be the case.
Almost ALL Forest Service easements with Longview Fiber were for timber sales. But since the Forest Service insists on a PUBLIC easement, that gives the public access across Longview Fiber (and successors).
Take the time to recognize FS gates. Many of them are placed off MAIN roads, where the adjacent land is private, but there is a Forest Service easement that gives the public access. There will be a minimum of TWO locks, one for the private landowner and one for the Forest Service, usually but NOT always a YALE lock.
Take a good look at the ROAD CLOSED sign. All Forest Service signs are made in southern California and there should be a sign ID number that starts with FS....that means there is a public easement to public lands across public property.
Weyerhauser was pretty awful about posting their lands as NO TRESSPASSING when the public, through the Forest Service had a legal easement to cross the property. Really somebody should go to jail.
Weyerhauser sold their lands to small private owners in my neighborhood. Yep, the Forest Service gate is still there and the Weyerhauser NO TRESPASSING sign has been replace by a NO HUNTING sign and a PRIVATE PROPERTY SIGN.
Notice there is NO SIGN saying NO TRESPASSING!!! That is because the new landowner knows that there is a public easement across the land and unlike Weyerhauser he does follow the law.
What we need is for the Forest Service to clearly post the roads where they have a legal public easement as such.
We also need a law to keep people from posting illegal NO TRESPASSING signs....keep companies like Weyerhauser honest.
