Flyjunky and Stick&string: I am pretty sure we do not pay taxes on NF or BLM land. We do pay through our income taxes for the administration and maintenance of said lands. I stand to be corrected, but I don't think public lands are on the tax rolls. I don't even think public lands out west (the ones in question) were bought and paid for with tax money. If I am not mistaken when the railroads were built in the west the government gave alternating sections along the rail route to the railroad as an incentive to complete the rail line quickly. The sections not given to railroads were open to homesteaders or for sale at low prices to anyone interested in settling the west. The railroads sold some of their lands to willing buyers. Those sections that were not homesteaded or sold remain the property of the government.
BuzzH: I can't show you the law that says it is illegal to CC. I am not a lawyer nor do I care what you do in Wy. I do care what you do on or over my property. I don't care if you are or are not impacting my property it is still mine and I would like to think it is my decision as to whether or not you are impacting my property when you cross my land.
Not trying to be argumentative, but to me, and some others, private property rights trump public property rights.
You got some things right, some things wrong.
Most large tracts of land were purchased by the Government, as for the case of Wyoming a majority of it was purchased via the Louisiana Purchase. So, yes, tax money most assuredly was used to purchase Wyoming.
Public lands are NOT taxed, but States received Sections of the public estate via their enabling acts at Statehood, (usually sections 16 and 36, and some additional sections here and there). Also States do receive revenue from the Federal Government Lands via PILT (payment in lieu of Taxes).
The railroads were given every other section for westward expansion, the remaining Federal lands were not meant to be homesteaded or sold. The private sections given to the Railroads were the incentive, they could sell them to raise revenue to fund their railroads. But, the intent was NOT to raise funding for the railroads on the REMAINING public lands in the checkerboard.
The reason you can't show me a law to make corner crossing illegal is because one doesn't exist.
As much as you want to lay claim to your private property rights trumping public property rights it is absolute nonsense. Property rights are property rights no matter the owner.
Lets look at it a different way...say you own kitty-corner sections of private, I own the other sections. I decide I want to corner cross, stepping from my private property to another piece of my private property over a shared corner.
Are you trying to tell me that I can't, based on the wrong assumption that somehow your private property rights are more important than my private property rights? Again, that's absolutely nonsense. The same as its nonsense to assume, just because you own private property, that you hold the upper hand with ANY other landowner at a shared corner, including federal, county, city or state lands.
Stepping from one piece of public land to another piece of public land over a shared corner is not trespassing. The US Citizens own the land, all of us, and never was your private property violated.
Its simple, and I believe if the civil case is heard, there will be no more gray area and public land owners are going to gain access to OUR land.