Land easement hassles

Just bought a remote property in northern Wisconsin that is only accessible via logging roads. Upon closing I started using said roads for Ingres and egress only. Neighbors who these logging roads cross have not been up at the same times I’ve been up. I did send “hello” letters with my contact info but haven’t heard back. Now there are no trespassing signs on the easement roads galore. My warranty deed documents my legal access using these roads…I’m wondering what all tour’s take would be on this. If I respect the signs the only way to get to my property would be by helicopter, and that is not an exaggeration.

I mean if you have deeded access they can pound sand.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

Just bought a remote property in northern Wisconsin that is only accessible via logging roads. Upon closing I started using said roads for Ingres and egress only. Neighbors who these logging roads cross have not been up at the same times I’ve been up. I did send “hello” letters with my contact info but haven’t heard back. Now there are no trespassing signs on the easement roads galore. My warranty deed documents my legal access using these roads…I’m wondering what all tour’s take would be on this. If I respect the signs the only way to get to my property would be by helicopter, and that is not an exaggeration.

If it is wrote up correctly, then I don’t see an issue in using them.

If you have a legal easement that is filed and recorded, you have every legal right to access your property. I assume there was a prior legal easement? There’s a chance the signs are not meant for you also. I would carry a legal copy with you just in case also till you have a conversation with easement owners.

Wisconsin law states there is no land locked land, you must be allowed to access your land at the closest point of public right of way. but there are no provisions for utilities in the law.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

Neighbors who these logging roads cross have not been up at the same times I’ve been up. I did send “hello” letters with my contact info but haven’t heard back. Now there are no trespassing signs on the easement roads galore. My warranty deed documents my legal access using these roads

gregory wrote:

There’s a chance the signs are not meant for you also.

Exactly,,,,,,,,, no doubt your neighbors have noticed the increased activity over the roads which cross their land. As you state, they have no way of knowing who is responsible for the increased traffic. It would be reasonable to expect them to post no trespassing signs aimed at anyone NOT having a legal right to use said roads.

I won’t worry about it, it is reasonable to conclude the signs are not directed at you, until such time you are informed otherwise.

If in the future they contact you directly and request you cease using the roads, then at that time you will need to address the issue.

My gut feel is that they found out you are crossing their land and put up the signs as a reminder to stay where you belong.

New signage to indicate that the land is private would be reasonably expected since increased traffic will bring extra unwanted visitors who may need that “reminder”.

Beast wrote:

Wisconsin law states there is no land locked land, you must be allowed to access your land at the closest point of public right of way. but there are no provisions for utilities in the law.

You are correct but that does not allow a vehicle to be used. Assuming the OP did his due diligence in finding out what type of easement he has as there are many different types of easement. Some allow access by foot, some by vehicle, some allow you to maintain the easement some do not. If you don’t know exactly the legal definition I would contact your local zoning and find out.

They may have trail cams set out there so already know you are accessing.

Posting the land (as noted above) may simply be saying stay on the road …

Seems also that once one person starts using the road others follow (who likely do not have permission).

Definitely best to try speak with them.

Curious…. Do you have any idea (via the prior owner or sign of use) if the neighbors had been using the land which is now under your ownership ?

We have 80 acres in Washburn County in WI too. It is landlocked by county forest land. It is a mile off the firelane and only access is via logging trails through the county forest. We have an easement too. We’ve been able to drive vehicles back to our property. The logging trails can get pretty crappy at times and now we mainly take ATVs or walk back to our property.

Timmy wrote:

My gut feel is that they found out you are crossing their land and put up the signs as a reminder to stay where you belong.

New signage to indicate that the land is private would be reasonably expected since increased traffic will bring extra unwanted visitors who may need that “reminder”.

This is similar to what I was thinking. If the “new guy in town” is a good, boundary respecting guy, there’s no problem. But if for some reason there were new people that didn’t mind doing a little trespassing here and there, the neighbors are prepared for it. Seems in all corners of our region here there are folks that don’t have a problem straying into other property even when they know it’s wrong.

Small update. I spent an entire morning getting all documents and history. Bottom line is the more I researched, the more solid my right to access is. It’s a day short of a week since I mailed my hello, im your new neighbor letter…zero response. Even though I have the legal right, im trying to ease into this so as not to look like an arrogant a-hole. I’d rather have beers with them, than sneers from them. There is a lot more details, but I’ll wait to expand on them for now and give the Readers Digest condensed version hopefully in the near future.

I think you’re doing everything you can. New neighbors is always such a wildcard that can greatly impact your life. People can end up with loud, messy people that always have the wrong kind of crowd over, or you can get law abiding, respectful people, the kind that when you’re gone you’re happy to have such good folks close by because they’ll keep an eye on things, plow you out if needed, etc. If I were them I’d be glad someone broke he ice and is trying to start things off on the right foot.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

Now there are no trespassing signs on the easement roads galore.

Maybe they aren’t because of you? It’s getting closer to hunting season when I think about fixing some signs or filling in gaps I’ve noticed. The people around me also have a lot of signs making a dead-end county owned road look private but we all know it’s for “other people”, not us.

Not to sidetrack the conversation.

“6 days since I mailed a letter.”

The big assumption is that they have received said letter.

Furthermore
they could be on vacation
their address may have changed
many people do not open letters immediately – let alone respond to them

Are you expecting them to mail you back or call you …

I get it – that finding someone’s phone number is more difficult now with personal cell phones.

Is there a phone number on any of the no tresspass signs ?

No contact info on signs, just hammered on straight from store. So far my best resource for getting a lead on owners name and last tax bill address is ONX Hunt. Time will tell. One of the land owners has a makeshift shooting range that crosses and terminates on the opposite side of the logging road designated as the easement. It is very heavily wooded and sight lines are very short. I would hate to become the victim of a unfortunate shooting accident while they are sighting in their rifles at the same time I’m traveling through…

When I bought some land in central WI, it was fall 2019, we didnt do more than day trips there until May 2020 and the first weekend we camped there, 1 of the neighbors came down (he has 40acres and a cabin 1000ft down the road) to introduced himself. He was very curious of our plans and why we wanted the land as he was used to being the only person on the dead end road. It turned out he is a good guy to know because he will let me know if he sees anything strange and I do the same for him. After a few months, I always let him know when I will be up there and if he is around, he invites me down for a beer or I invite him over for the same.

That said, I know what its like to be the new kid on the block.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

It’s a day short of a week since I mailed my hello, im your new neighbor letter…zero response. Even though I have the legal right, im trying to ease into this so as not to look like an arrogant a-hole. I’d rather have beers with them, than sneers from them. There is a lot more details, but I’ll wait to expand on them for now and give the Readers Digest condensed version hopefully in the near future.

Interesting, what exactly did you say in that letter? Pretend it was nice and cordial but reiterated the point that you have legal easement rights and you expect them to oblige, may not be exactly the way of informing them that gets you the results. Maybe a better approach would be to actually have a 6 pack, go visit them in person and introduce yourself. I don’t know, a letter seems so impersonal and lawyer like to me. I am at the end of a 1.5 mile private road that is all easement based. We have a Road Association which sends out yearly dues for maintenance and snow plowing. Assuming you only have an easement and do not own the property it sits on, what is your legal obligation for that easement, are your required to maintain it, if so to what degree? there are all sorts of assumptions that happen in these situations that can cause a lot of misunderstanding and trust, beyond the legal aspects of it. Maybe you have a different idea of easement than those who have to grant you it, it could be a simple minor issue. Just look at the issues that the guy had in Mora regarding a driveway access via a “abandoned” township road and the neighbor who wanted it back via the law. What a mess. Good luck.

I did not mention anything about the easement. It was purely a hello letter with my contact info if he wishes to contact me for any reason.