Deadman Road / Anderson Road Summary

Deadman and Anderson Roads are in the Lewis and Clark County, Northwest of Helena, due west of Marysville, by the boundary of the Helena National Forest. Landowner Tom Hoffman gated and locked both roads, painted posts with No Trespassing orange paint, installing “Private Property, No Trespassing” signs on one and “Private Property” sign on the other, with a permission sign excluding motorized and horse access on the other. Deadman Road is also known as Forest Service Road 774a1.

Bill Orsello, a Helena Hunter & Angler member, noticed the closures. His family drove on the Forest Service Road 774-A1 to reach their Deadman Creek cabin for decades. They gave the cabin to the Forest Service about 2005. Orsello continued to use the Deadman Road to hunt and recreate. Orsello stated, “But even though the road has been here for 50 years or longer, the Forest Service doesn’t hold an actual easement on the right-of-way, so the landowner can assert the road is his; the only recourse is a prescriptive-use easement.” However, the Anderson Road is owned by the Lewis and Clark County. Hoffman had no legal right to erect a gate, lock it, then sign it to restrict motorized and horse access on a county road.

Bill Orsello, John Gatchell, conservation director for the Montana Wilderness Association, and Dennis Milburn, with the Last Chance Back Country Horsemen, believed that both roads should be open to the public. “We’ll see more of this on the Helena National Forest, which has a lot of public inholdings due to the historic mining activities,” Gatchell said. “It’s important for the Helena National Forest to be vigilant and protect these historic rights of access or we will lose access. This is important because it’s not the first or the last time a landowner will try to close off access.”

Helena District Ranger Lori Wood stated they were aware of the obstructions, noting that the final decision on whether Deadman Road has a prescriptive easement is a question best answered by a judge. However, the Helena National Forest wasn’t going to press the issue at that time because they were busy with other projects.

Lewis and Clark County administrator Eric Bryson said “ He also can’t put restrictions on horses or ATVs, because clearly Anderson Road is a county road.”

Orsello said, “They should not be able to dictate use on a road that people have been using for 50 years or longer, as well as on a road the county adopted in 1911.”

UPDATE: October 2012

Published courtesy of the Montana Wildlife Federation publication Montana Wildlife.

ACCESS TO PUBLIC LANDS BEING THREATENED
Montana Wildlife Federation

by Dick Paulsen, Executive Director

Access to public lands is a major issue the Montana Wildlife Federation and is an issue our affiliates work on each day. Being relatively new to the organization I was pleased to join MWF members Bill Orsello and Stan Frazier for a field trip and personally assess a recent closure of two public roads on the same property. The property owner closed, gated and signed the Deadman and Anderson Roads. Deadman Road is also known as Forest Service Road 774a1. The Anderson Road is a county road.

The Lewis and Clark County commission was approached by the landowner and convinced to provide an encroachment permit under the landowners assertion that alternate public access was available via the Forest Service road. Upon having the permit issued by the county, he then proceeded to close BOTH roads with stout gates and signage forbidding trespassing on one road and prohibiting any hunting, motorized vehicles or horses on the second.

This is a classic example of two public roads providing access for fishing, hunting and other recreational activities for generations in the Deadman drainage of the Helena National Forest. Trails at the end of end of this property have provided motorized and non-motorized access to thousands of acres of public land. From a very practical standpoint, after looking at the area and talking with people familiar with the drainage system, these two roads are the only reasonable points of access to the Forest Service land abutting a relatively small section of private land (160 acres). This private land parcel is surrounded by public land with two public roads running through it. The roads end as you enter the Helena National Forest.

After being confronted about closing the roads, the land owner has changed his position twice in a month with first agreeing to open the Forest Service road (but not the county road), and then changing his position.

Our position is that the encroachment permit on Anderson (county) road should be rescinded and motorized use to the end of the existing developed portion of the road allowed, and the easement be marked to the Forest boundary.

Over the next few weeks, the MWF and the Helena Hunters and Anglers will be in conversations with both the county commissioners and the Helena National Forest Supervisor about both roads, making a case for hunters, anglers and recreationists to have access to their public lands using public roads.

The Lewis & Clark Commissioners have been responsive to our concerns and are working to address the issue on the county road (Anderson Rd.) The Forest Service, not so much.

Using a recent quote by Attorney General Steve Bullock; “As Montanans, we appreciate concern for private property rights, but state law makes it clear that public access to thousands of acres of public lands that have been used by hunters for generations can’t be controlled by a private landowner.”

I thank Bill and Stan for an opportunity to learn about the loss of public access to public property in an area within miles of our backyard. I also learned more on the importance of MWF’s work to ensure access to public lands and water. Without diligence, we can and will lose the ability to utilize the land and water owned by the public and managed with tax payer dollars.

Deadman Road / Anderson Road in Pictures & Maps