Dome Mountain Ranch, LLC v. Park County

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court considered whether a public prescriptive easement existed over a road located on property owned by Dome Mountain Ranch, LLC. The Court held that, even if a public prescriptive easement had been established before 1965, the relocation of the road and the long-term presence of locked gates and no-trespassing signs extinguished it through reverse adverse possession. The judgment declaring the road a county road was reversed and the matter was remanded.

Holdings

1. The court did not need to resolve whether a public prescriptive easement had originally been created because, even assuming one existed, it was later extinguished by reverse adverse possession.
2. The district court erred in determining that the public's use of the relocated road after 1965 was continuous and uninterrupted over a definite course; the locked gates, no-trespassing signs, and predominantly recreational use extinguished any public prescriptive easement that may have existed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a public prescriptive easement existed along the disputed road.
2. Whether any public prescriptive easement was extinguished by reverse adverse possession after the road was relocated and locked gates and no-trespassing signs were maintained.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded