Opinion ID: 3053462
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Implied Easement

Text: [4] McFarland contends that he is the holder of an easement implied from existing use, created at the time of the land patent under the Homestead Act by virtue of seven years of “use so long and manifest as to show that it was meant to be permanent.” McFarland attempts to bolster this argument by MCFARLAND v. KEMPTHORNE 14049 pointing to the Homestead Act’s language recognizing a right “to enter” public lands to establish a homestead. However, Fitzgerald II makes clear that this language does not create an implied easement. See 460 F.3d at 1265 (“[T]he Homestead Act did not grant settlers a vested property right of access over public lands to their homesteads, but instead merely sanctioned the longstanding customary use of public lands by a settler.”). Moreover, application of the common-law doctrine of easement implied by prior use is not appropriate in this case, where title was taken by way of a public grant. “In a public grant nothing passes by implication, and unless the grant is explicit with regard to the property conveyed, a construction will be adopted which favors the sovereign . . .” Albrecht v. United States, 831 F.2d 196, 198 (10th Cir. 1987) (citation omitted). Although the government has historically provided for access across federal land to reach privately owned inholdings, that access was granted in the form of a license. See Jenks, 129 F.3d at 1353-55.