UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS March 18, 2025 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ IRON BAR HOLDINGS, LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company registered to do business in Wyoming,

Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 23-8043 BRADLEY H. CAPE; ZACHARY M. SMITH; PHILLIP G. YEOMANS; JOHN W. SLOWENSKY,

Defendants - Appellees. ------------------------------------ UNITED PROPERTY OWNERS OF MONTANA, INC.; WYOMING WOOL GROWERS ASSOCIATION; WYOMING STOCK GROWERS ASSOCIATION; GREAT OLD BROADS FOR WILDERNESS; GREENLATINOS; SIERRA CLUB; WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT; BACKCOUNTRY HUNTERS AND ANGLERS,

Amici Curiae. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming (D.C. No. 2:22-CV-00067-SWS) _________________________________ Appellate Case: 23-8043 Document: 122-1 Date Filed: 03/18/2025 Page: 2

Robert Reeves Anderson, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Denver, Colorado (Brian M. Williams, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Denver, Colorado; Sean A. Mirski, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C.; M. Gregory Weisz, Pence and MacMillan LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Megan Overmann Goetz, Pence and MacMillan LLC, Laramie, Wyoming, with him on the briefs) for Plaintiff-Appellant. Ryan Alexander Semerad, Fuller & Semerad, LLC, Casper, Wyoming (Lee Mickus, Evans Fears Schuttert McNulty Mickus, Denver, Colorado, and Alexandria Layton, Evans Fears Schuttert McNulty Mickus, Las Vegas, Nevada, with him on the brief) for Defendants-Appellees. Jack G. Connors, Doney Crowley P.C., Helena, Montana, filed an Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of United Property Owners of Montana in Support of Plaintiff-Appellant. Karen Budd-Falen, Budd-Falen Law Offices, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming, filed an Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Wyoming Stock Growers Association and Wyoming Wool Growers Association in Support of Plaintiff-Appellant. Thomas Delehanty, Earthjustice, Denver, Colorado, filed an Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, GreenLatinos, Sierra Club, and Western Watersheds Project in Support of Defendants-Appellees. Eric B. Hanson, Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP, San Francisco, California, filed an Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers in Support of Defendants-Appellees.

_________________________________ Before TYMKOVICH, EBEL, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

The American West contains millions of acres platted into alternating squares of public and private land in a manner resembling a checkerboard. The question presented is whether a private landowner can prevent a person from stepping across adjoining corners of federal public land—a technique called “corner-crossing.”

2 Appellate Case: 23-8043 Document: 122-1 Date Filed: 03/18/2025 Page: 3

Appellant Iron Bar Holdings, LLC, owns a checkerboarded ranch in south- central Wyoming. Enmeshed within its holdings are federal and state public plats. The only way to access the federal or state land, other than aircraft, is by corner- crossing.

Public Private

Private Public

Anyone familiar with the game checkers can visualize this corner-crossing problem: to move diagonally across the board, a piece must