Opinion ID: 882872
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: extinguishment of a public prescriptive easement

Text: Although BCC asserts that there is no public prescriptive easement, it contends that even if there was a public prescriptive easement, it was extinguished by the conduct of owners after the Conners, particularly Clarence Evilsizer. We agree. Ken Duncan, when asked by Mr. Poston, attorney for BCC, how other owners, Troop, (who purchased the ranch from Conners), Evilsizer and States treated the property, responded as follows: Q. Okay, how did Troop treat the property, the use of the road? A. He let hunters in with permission. Q. But he required permission? A. Yes, he did. Q. What about Evilsizer and his lessee? A. Well, his lessee was there to start with, before Evilsizer moved there, and he was really strict with it. You usually didn't get on his place, and I think he testified the other day that a lot of them left. I think they all left. Q. Do you know whether or not the gates were locked, when he was there? A. In certain areas, they were. Q. Now, how did Mr. States treat the property, when he got there, about letting people on the road? A. Well, I had to cross some of States' land to get to this area I leased, this Ahmon place I'm talking about, and I have, since 1973, and if I didn't ask permission from States to cross that land, I would probably, within a half day, I would get a phone call and he would ask if I crossed that land, and I assume he knew every tire tread track that ever crossed his place. Everett F. Hedrick testified that he lived on the subject property from 1967 through 1972. At this time, the property was owned by Clarence Evilsizer and leased by Mr. Hedrick. Hedrick testified that he allowed people to traverse the road and hunt on the land by permission. Mr. Hedrick also testified that the gates were erected and locked to control the cattle and to keep the people out of there. Hedrick also stated that some people used the road even if he told them they could not, but if he caught them there, he would try to run them off. In his affidavit, Clarence Evilsizer, who bought the ranch from Troop, stated that: [f]rom approximately 1966 to 1978 I owned what is now known as the Boone and Crockett Club TRM Ranch. . . During my ownership of the ranch, the road in question was always treated as a private road with appropriate signs being placed at beyond Johnson's crossing and with all persons not given specific permission to use the road, which occurred on rare occasions, being asked to and required to get off the property. Most problems of trespass occurred during the hunting season. Mr. Dean States, who owned the land upon which the road is situated subsequent to Clarence Evilsizer, stated in his affidavit, that: From approximately 1978 to 1987, my family and I owned and operated what is now known as the Boone and Crockett Club TRM Ranch located at Dupuyer Montana. During our ownership and operation of the ranch, we believed that the road in question in this lawsuit, which has been dubbed the Dupuyer Creek Road, from Johnson Crossing west, was a private road, and we treated it as such with appropriate signs being placed at and beyond Johnson Crossing. Anyone using the ranch for hunting, recreation, or any other purpose was requested to get permission. Anyone caught on the ranch without permission was promptly ejected from the ranch. It was understood by all that permission was necessary if they wanted to use the ranch; and if they were caught on the ranch without permission, they would be ejected. Therefore, I rarely had to eject anyone from the ranch. In approximately 1972, Mr. Evilsizer closed the road to through traffic. Robert Richmond, a National Forest Service supervisor, and Bud Olsen, then Chairperson of the Teton County Commissioners, went to discuss the blockage with Evilsizer. Evilsizer was persuaded by the two men to remove the blockage and the men assured him that Forest Service staff or the Teton County Commissioners would contact the Sheriff to deal with further problems with trespassers on Evilsizer's land. At about this time FWP approached Evilsizer to work out an agreement to provide access to the road for people who wanted to hunt on the Forest Service land. This was part of a FWP program begun in the 1970s with landowners around the State. The Department would assist in controlling vehicle traffic through private land by issuing vehicle permits for landowners who would allow people to make recreational use of their land but had concerns over uncontrolled vehicle use. In Evilsizer's case, a special parking area was installed and visitors would park in the lot and could then traverse the road on foot or horseback to access the National Forest land. The Department provided landowners involved in programs like this walk-in program with signs which said Parking Area, Do not drive beyond this point and Written Permission Required. FWP provided any other materials which would facilitate a landowner's permission to allow access to their land for recreational users. FWP personnel in the area were also responsible for enforcing the agreement. Mr. Evilsizer explained the walk-in program in his affidavit: In approximately 1973, I entered into an agreement with the Fish and Game Department of the State of Montana to set up a walk-in hunting area. This agreement allowed hunters to park and camp at a location near the fence line running north and south in the SW 1/4 SE 1/4 of Section 14. The fence is not on the property line. The hunters were then allowed to proceed strictly on foot or on horseback from there to the west and south onto and access, if they so desired, the rest of my property which lay between that fence and the forest boundary. The parking area was signed with signs provided by the Fish and Game Department. This permissive arrangement seemed to be accepted by everybody and to my knowledge there were very few if any violations of the agreement. I have no knowledge of anyone driving beyond the parking area without permission. The walk-in agreement continued when Dean States purchased the ranch. In his affidavit, he stated: [W]hile I owned and operated the ranch, I maintained the walk-in area which had been previously been [sic] established by Clarence Evilsizer and the Montana Fish and Game Department while Clarence Evilsizer owned the property. Through an agreement with the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, they also helped me police the area. It is my belief they issued citations to anyone using the area without permission and ejected them from the property. During the time we owned the ranch, no lawsuits were initiated against us demanding the road in question, which was blocked, be open to the public or any other individuals. At the time I owned the ranch, there were five gates going from Johnson Crossing into the forest service land. Generally, anyone using the property followed the custom in the area and left the gates open if they found them open and closed if they found them closed. Anyone not doing so was asked to leave the ranch if I caught them. If I did not catch them and knew who did it, I would deny them access thereafter. This agreement has continued through the ownership of the area by BCC. In 1986, BCC entered into a written agreement with FWP. If a public prescriptive easement had been established, Evilsizer's blocking of the road and the creation and maintenance of the walk-in program evidenced a distinct and positive assertion of a hostile right... . Taylor v. Petranek (1977), 173 Mont. 433, 438, 568 P.2d 120, 123. The assertion of this right hostile to the owner [the public] must be brought to the attention of the owner and the use must continue for the full prescriptive period. Medhus v. Dutter (1979), 184 Mont. 437, 442-443, 603 P.2d 669, 672. Section 70-17-111(3), MCA, provides that a servitude is extinguished ... (3) by the performance of any act upon either tenement by the owner of the servitude or with his assent which is incompatible with its nature or exercise [.] We have held, on the basis of that statute, that if a prescriptive easement exists, subsequent acts inconsistent with the claim by prescription, support the conclusion that the prescriptive easement has been extinguished. Morrison v. Higbee (1983), 204 Mont. 515, 668 P.2d 1025; Downing v. Grover (1989), 237 Mont. 172, 772 P.2d 850. In those two cases we found that such inconsistent acts, among others, included the establishment of or acquiescence in a permissive use after an act hostile to the claimed prescriptive right. Morrison, 668 P.2d at 1027-1028; Downing, 772 P.2d at 852-853. Clarence Evilsizer's blocking of the road was a hostile act which established reverse adverse possession because the state and local government, as well as the public cooperated and adhered to the walk-in policy which had been in existence for approximately 17 years. Clarence Evilsizer cooperated in the establishment of the walk-in program in the early 1970s and the program continued until 1988 when PLAA brought an action against BCC. The users and general public acquiesced in Evilsizer's reverse adverse prescription by adhering to the walk-in program. Compliance with the walk-in program was inconsistent with the claim of a public prescriptive easement. Accordingly, any prescriptive easement the public may have acquired in the road was lost. In addition, in 1988, the county commissioners had the opportunity to establish Dupuyer-Dupuyer Canyon Road west of Johnson's Crossing as a county road. At the February 1988 meeting of the Board of Commissioners, the three Teton County Commissioners denied a petition to open and establish for public use and access the road in dispute. The county commissioners stated that: [A]t this time recreational activities would seem to be the greater use. So it is the recommendation of the inspection team to deny the road petition at this time. Also, due to litigation involved in aquiring [sic] right of way aquistion [sic] thru [sic] the Boone & Crockett Club to the National Forest Service Boundary. The decision to deny the petition to establish the disputed road as a county road confirms acquiescence by the county and the public that the disputed road is a private road. In conclusion, substantial evidence supports the proposition that prior to Fred Troop's ownership of the BCC ranch area, there was a policy that travellers used the road because of neighborly accommodation. Further, users accessed the road for the purposes of hunting, fishing, picnicking and other forms of recreation. When Fred Troop bought the land from the Conners, he allowed access to the road with permission. Clarence Evilsizer, his lessee and Dean States continued the practice of access by permission. Finally, in the early 1970s, an attempt by Clarence Evilsizer to block the road met with state and local government cooperation to establish a program that would allow public access to the road which would be agreeable to the landowner. The public, thereafter, acquiesced in the established walk-in policy. We conclude that even if there was a public prescriptive easement, it was clearly extinguished by reverse adverse possession and by the inconsistent acts of road users in acquiescing in the walk-in program for more than the full statutory period.