Elk Mountain is a peak at the northern end of the Medicine Bow Mountains. It is southwest of the town of

Elk Mountain, Wyoming Elk Mountain is a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 150 at the 2020 census. The town shares its name with a mountain to its southwest. Geography Elk Mountain is located at (41.686517, −106.414535). Accordin ...

and roughly from

Rawlins, Wyoming Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,221 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County. It was named for Union Army, Union General John Aa ...

. The mountain is the area's most visible feature. It is located south of Interstate 80 in Carbon County. Elk Mountain is the 8th most prominent summit in the state of Wyoming. Elk Mountain is located in a public

landlocked parcel A landlocked parcel is a real estate plot that has no legal access to a public right of way. Generally, a landlocked parcel has less value than a parcel that is not landlocked. Often, the owner of a landlocked parcel can obtain access to a public r ...

which became the center of federal lawsuit against four

hunters Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

in 2022. In 2020 and 2021, the hunters used a step ladder and OnX, an application that maps public lands, to "corner-cross" their way over the owned by Fred Eshelman, an entrepreneur and resident of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. Corner-crossing is a method of traveling through alternating public and private land without stepping foot on the privately owned parcels by crossing over the corners, which are shared ownership between the government and private owners. Eshelman pressed criminal trespassing charges against the hunters for "crossing into his airspace." They were found not guilty following a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significan ...

. The civil case could set

precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...

on who can legally access millions in acreage of public lands. There are 2.44 million acres of landlocked public land in Wyoming, and 8.3 million acres across the entire

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. Radio station KBDY broadcasts from a tower on the summit. This allows the station to be received over a significant area with only 630 watts of

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

References

External links

* {{Mountains of Wyoming Mountains of Wyoming Mountains of Carbon County, Wyoming