This may not be a popular thought in Wyoming, but I think there need to be some changes to how access to our public lands works. There are quite a few areas in the state where large chunks of public land are locked up by the surrounding private land. Many of the landowners allow people to drive through their land in order to get to that public land, but not all of them do. Some of them have good reason to bar access across their land. I’ve spoken to many landowners who used to let people drive through, but some of those people – or more likely people who never asked permission in the first place – abused the privilege and caused damage or created problems for the landowner. On top of that, those private roads have to be maintained by the landowner, with no assistance from the county or state, so the more vehicles that come through, the more work they have to do to keep the roads in good shape.
It would be nice if the counties or the state would step up and take over maintenance of those roads that go through private land, if they’re the only way you can get to the public land. That would help with the maintenance aspect, but if that happens, we as sportspeople would need to be sure to help keep people honest. But that’s no different than anywhere else in the state. If you see someone breaking the rules or doing things they shouldn’t be doing, say something. Let folks know they won’t get away with poaching, vandalism, littering, or other mischief.
As I said, I can’t blame the landowners for not letting people come through to get to the public land, but those lands that belong to all of us should be accessible to all of us, too.
