BLM land location discrepancy

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

So over the weekend after my successful pronghorn hunt my buddy wanted to do a little bit of patterning work on his rifle before we headed home. We left the prime pronghorn turf so as not to screw up other's hunts and we to a narrow/long strip of BLM touching a county road. Figured the ~1/4mi wide strip with a ridge 700yd across the back of it was a prime/safe spot to shoot half dozen rounds off.

Fast forward to a pissed off ranch lady who's dog attacked my buddy and she calls the cops, etc. We waited there apologetic for the cops all the while she was telling us off. Showed the sheriff that on two different GPS units its showing us on BLM, the rancher says the BLM is 400yd or so up the road. We also over hear them telling the cops they just took over this property from their uncle or something and this is the 4th time this year they had to chase off folks who said their gps was telling them its public land.

We were allowed to leave in the end, all the while the lady was still acting extremely unpleasant and self righteous while her husband was a tad more understanding.

This morning I'm looking at numerous sources (the county GIS system, CO hunt altas, etc.) and ALL of them match what I had on both my GPS units, I can see all the features in the aerial overlay on the CO hunt atlas and we were smack right in the middle of that stretch. So either there is a screw up of where the BLM claims its land is or somewhere along the line "someone" decided to relocate the strip of BLM land a bit further up the road unofficially.

Anyone ever run into this before? Overall we're done with that spot so its in the past in our mind, buddy is a bit irritated about getting bite pretty damn hard on the calf on what we believed was public land. But if they've had issues with other hunters this year also then more folks are going to have this same problem (the narrow strip also offers a way into a peninsula of BLM/national forest land). Either the GPS overlays need correcting if that is the case OR if this person incorrectly is claiming where the BLM land is they need to get officially told to piss off and stop harassing the public.

 

[jtw]

I used to work in the field as a botanist and on several occasions had people claim I was on their property when I was clearly on various public lands. Ive also seen some people mark public lands as private.
However, A civilian gps isnt always right. But you put in due diligence afterwards.
The property owner may have a dispute about their property line also or may have no clue where it is.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I used to work in the field as a botanist and on several occasions had people claim I was on their property when I was clearly on various public lands. Ive also seen some people mark public lands as private.
However, A civilian gps isnt always right. But you put in due diligence afterwards.
The property owner may have a dispute about their property line also or may have no clue where it is.

I fully realize our GPS could be wrong that is why in the moment I only apologized that we weren't intentionally trespassing and thought we were on public.

After the fact though everything aligns with what we originally thought that I can find (short of obtaining the actual real property description in the deed). I'm not being charged with trespassing so its not like I need to mount a defense over all this or anything. It's just I was thinking this morning that I can see others falling into the same situation semi-regularly since this strip is a land bridge to access the southern portion of a public land mass peninsula w/o having to come in from much farther north.

 

[kpk]

I used to do a job measuring homes/buildings and then drawing them and their location to scale. Often times property owners don't have a clue where the actual lines are (and 90% of what I was doing was in town). Someone decides to mow a little extra on the line for a few years, the neighbors sell and all of a sudden they think they are entitled to that extra few feet because they were the one mowing it. Another fine example is someone putting up a fence on what they think is their line only to find out it's not and then having to tear the fence back down and move it 5 or 10 feet.

I really wouldn't be surprised if the landowner was wrong....but it would be more an honest mis-informed mistake. If they just took over the property from Uncle Rico...Uncle Rico may very well have mis-informed them.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Uncle Rico may very well have mis-informed them.

That is kinda what I'm wondering about esp. since they were saying "its along those hills over there", I think someone may have traded out strips to suit their needs better.

But if you've had 4 others already this fall claiming their GPS is saying this is public land you'd think it might click in your head a tad that something is amiss. Hence don't go into super "B-word" mode nor allow your dog to attack someone since if it turns out you are in the wrong and it is public you just opened a can of worms. Some signs saying "BLM is 400yd further" and also not having a huge chip on your shoulder might be a good start. She was complaining about an archery hunter coming down in the dark through that strip to the cop too and said he was also apologizing saying his GPS told him it was public.

Towards us she got on a tangent of wanting to know who we asked for permission to be there and why we didn't have permission, etc. when she first approached. It was only later we find out we aren't the first who thought we were on the BLM but she still had a bug up here ass that we didn't ask permission, etc. and seemed to struggle at adsorbing the knowledge/apology that we didn't ask anyone since we didn't think there was an need seeing as we thought it was BLM. Round and around she bitched and we just apologized and waited around to chat with the sheriff. Even when we left she was still saying "if it was my call I'd press charges". I wonder if her husband was connecting the dots there might be something amiss in what they think is their land at that point, she sure as hell wasn't making that association yet I can tell you that.

 

[LongWayAround]

I suppose you could've asked her to show you EXACTLY where her property pins are to prove it. I'm betting there are T-posts out there with BLM caps on rebar.

...or you could've just checked your zero on that dog.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

At the time we were just happy to leave without hassle, its hind sight that the dots in my head are connecting that something likely is amiss one way or another with the land there.

 

[LostArra]

My daughter does a lot of surveying for mitigation banks and conservation easements, some of which is unfenced ground. Your story sounds very familiar.

I would almost guarantee the woman is wrong and doesn't have a clue as to the BLM/private boundary.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Would an email to the BLM office letting them know a rancher is claiming that strip is theirs and there is either a GPS error or a conflict in land ownership be appropriate? Its not a random strip, it provides access into a larger area so I can see others running into a hassle there too.

 

[power54]

I tend to trust the county GIS sites most since they are updated regularly. With all sources pointing to BLM, it sounds to me like she's wrong but I'd get a hold of the BLM office to confirm that and then politely suggest the BLM informs the lady of her error if she is wrong. Posting it as BLM would be real nice!

 

[Dos Perros]

Would an email to the BLM office letting them know a rancher is claiming that strip is theirs and there is either a GPS error or a conflict in land ownership be appropriate? Its not a random strip, it provides access into a larger area so I can see others running into a hassle there too.

FWIW I once emailed the BLM because there was a narrow strip giving access to a lot more BLM, we're talking maybe 10 yards wide for a couple hundred yards. But, the strip went right through a ranch house. Not an out-building or corral or something, but the actual residence. Anyway I never received a response. I think you'd be better served calling the county.

 

[power54]

I wouldn't expect a response from an email unfortunately. I'd call the BLM and talk to somebody.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I sent the detailed coordinates along with screen shots of the hunt altas and county GIS system to the regional director (didn't know who to specifically send it to). He already replied and sent it along to the appropriate field manager to look into. Figured trying to relay coordinates and such over the phone would be a pain versus having them right on the screen in front of you along with screen shots of the boundaries (picture is worth a thousands words). Ideally either the databases get fixed or these folks are educated on their property, I don't really care which happens in the end. Ideally something does so others avoid hassles too.

 

[power54]

I sent the detailed coordinates along with screen shots of the hunt altas and county GIS system to the regional director (didn't know who to specifically send it to). He already replied and sent it along to the appropriate field manager to look into. Figured trying to relay coordinates and such over the phone would be a pain versus having them right on the screen in front of you along with screen shots of the boundaries (picture is worth a thousands words). Ideally either the databases get fixed or these folks are educated on their property, I don't really care which happens in the end. Ideally something does so others avoid hassles too.

That's great! Hopefully it gets taken care of.

 

[flyinsquirel]

I would almost guarantee the woman is wrong and doesn't have a clue as to the BLM/private boundary.

This. ^^^

I'd put a beer on it.

 

[xziang]

FWIW I once emailed the BLM because there was a narrow strip giving access to a lot more BLM, we're talking maybe 10 yards wide for a couple hundred yards. But, the strip went right through a ranch house. Not an out-building or corral or something, but the actual residence. Anyway I never received a response. I think you'd be better served calling the county.

Have to ask what did you ever find out if anything?

To OP have to say thanks for future hunters about sending the email out and notifying them for others will probably have the same issue if they try to access it. Sad but if you were to ask she might of just said the BLM land no longer exists.

 

[fngTony]

Glad you are not being charged. Thanks for contacting BLM.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Sad but if you were to ask she might of just said the BLM land no longer exists.

They weren't denying there was BLM, they just said it was further down the road versus all the data I can find. GPS said we entered BLM right after we crossed a cattle grate and everything "matched" in my head that it was the BLM so we entered the property.

Sheriff said something about fences usually being a clue but I don't find that to be the case. I have definitely ran into fenced off BLM areas depending on what its being used for.

Glad you are not being charged. Thanks for contacting BLM.

If I was charged I'd be obtaining the real property description and hiring a surveyor right about now.

 

[fngTony]

And counter sue for all expenses

 

[Dos Perros]

Have to ask what did you ever find out if anything?

To OP have to say thanks for future hunters about sending the email out and notifying them for others will probably have the same issue if they try to access it. Sad but if you were to ask she might of just said the BLM land no longer exists.

Never got an email response and it wasn't a high priority piece of ground for me so dropped it. I called the county on another issue though and they were very helpful, like almost obscenely helpful (gentleman I spoke too was a mule deer guide on weekends and was very helpful). Makes me want to call the county on this issue and see what's what. My perspective is that it's the county receiving property taxes, they're more apt to be helpful.