Wyoming Landlocked Property Case Offers Lessons for Agricultural Landowners

By Jason Vance Landlocked farmland and ranchland can create significant legal challenges for agricultural producers, particularly when property owners lack a legally enforceable route to a public road. A recent Wyoming Supreme Court case highlights the importance of understanding property access rights, negotiating with neighboring landowners and documenting potential damages. Roger McOwen, a law professor at Kansas State University and Washburn University, discussed the case and its implications for agricultural landowners in Kansas and across the country. The case involved a 640-acre Wyoming ranch that was nearly surrounded by property owned by the Little Medicine Creek Ranch. Although the land also adjoined Bureau of Land Management property and state trust land, those connections did not provide the owner with a legally enforceable right to drive across the public lands to reach a public road.

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