Reading Room Document

Rights-of-Way Across National Forests

The Act of June 4, 1897, does not grant a right of access to owners of land surrounded by national forests, other than actual settlers, and the Secretary of Agriculture has discretionary authority to deny such access unless a right otherwise exists. The common law doctrine of easement by necessity does not apply to land owned by the federal government, but a right of access may be implied from the terms of a federal land grant in some circumstances. No statutes currently modify any such implied right found to exist. Absent a prior existing access right, the Secretary of Agriculture may deny "adequate access" to land within a national forest wilderness area, but must offer a land exchange as indemnity. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/22291/download.

June 23, 1980