Dear Editor:

Please contact all our Wyoming state senators and representatives and ask them to stop House Bill “HB 103 — Prohibit travel across private land for hunting purposes.” This bill goes complete against the “Unlawful Inclosures of Public Lands Act of 1885.”

The ranchers have the right to use the public lands for grazing if they have paid for a grazing lease. However, they do not have the right to block public use of the lands and this is what some ranchers are trying to do. Corner crossing from one piece of public land to another piece of public land should not be illegal and the ranchers in question are trying to make it illegal which is a clear violation of the federal “Unlawful Inclosures of Public Lands Act of 1885.”

Their argument that one is stepping over their private land means they own the air over their land, which is nonsense. If this is the case, where does that end? Does a plane need permission to fly over private land?

This needs to be stopped. The ranchers in question are trying to lock up public lands for their own exclusive use. They need to learn that public means public; they do not own or control public lands.

Russell Cowan

Casper