From Gary Willams’ perspective, everything old is new again when it comes to Boswell Road, a popular route for campers to take into the southern Snowy Range Mountains that runs right through his property.
He’s placed a gate across the road at his property line about a half-mile off Highway 230.
With peak camping season set to kick off over Memorial Day weekend, Willams told Cowboy State Daily that he intends to keep a gate closed, but not locked.
The road remains officially closed to the public. And Williams said that frustrates him, because he’s OK with folks passing through his property to get to some fantastic camping spots in the meadows beyond. All he asks is that people drive slowly past his house and close the gate behind them.
He also isn’t impressed with the results of a meeting this week between the Albany County Commission and U.S. Forest Service officials about the status of the road. While both have at some point claimed ownership of the road, neither do now.
“Nothing came out of it,” he said. “They’re back to pointing their fingers at each other. We’re back to square one.”
County and Forest Service officials said a resolution is probably still at least months away.
Who Does It Even Belong To?
Jurisdiction over the road remains murky.
The Forest Service has always operated under the assumption that Boswell Road is an Albany County thoroughfare, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest Supervisor Russell Bacon told the county commissioners.
The roughly 11-mile dirt road route running between Highway 230 and Highway 10 in southern Albany County has never been marked as a Forest Service road on the agency’s maps, he said.
However, from a legal standpoint, it can’t be a country road either, and the county is frustrated over efforts to route it around Willams’ property on the west end hitting snags, Commission Chairman Pete Gosar said.
County engineers had plans to re-route the road, which is what Willams wants, only to have the Forest Service say that couldn’t happen unless it’s formally declared a county road, he said.
And it might be impossible for the county to ever claim full jurisdiction over the road because a section of it dips into Colorado.
About 25% of the route runs through private property, including Williams’ land at the west end, and the Boswell Ranch, owned by former Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead at the east end.
Mead hasn’t gated his section of the road, but has placed “private road, no trespassing” signs at his property line.
Of the remaining 75% of the route, about half runs through the national forest and the rest crosses parcels controlled by the Bureau of Land Management and state of Wyoming.
For years, the Forest Service maintained Boswell Road in exchange for the county maintaining Harris Park Road.
However, the road hasn’t been maintained by either entity for at least a year. Some property owners recently told Cowboy State Daily that it’s become extremely rough in some places, even though it remains the best route in and out of the area.
A map shows where the Boswell Springs wind farm is in Albany County. (Courtesy Innergex) 
Former Wyoming governor Matt Mead recently opted to close a section of the Boswell Road that runs through his property, just off Highway 10 in southern Albany County. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily) 
Former Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead owns the historic Boswell Ranch just off Highway 10 in southern Albany County. (Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Carpenter Family has been ranching in Albany for six generations, but might not be able to access their summer range off Boswell Road this year, because the road has been closed. (Courtesy Leisl Carpenter)
Not A Priority For Forest Service
One possible way out of the quandary would be for the county to secure easements along the sections of road that pass through private property. That could make it essentially a county road.
The section going through Colorado would be under Forest Service jurisdiction.
If some property owners refuse to grant easements, the county could take the case to court.
But regardless of whether such easements were settled with a handshake or via a court order, the process would likely take months.
Boswell Road could also be officially converted to a Forest Service road. That would probably take even longer, because a full environmental assessment would be in order, Bacon told the commissioners.
He also said that with 4,500 miles of Forest Service road already under his office’s jurisdiction, “it’s not going to float very high on our priority list” to add Boswell Road, he said.
A 40-Year Wait
Willams has owned his property for 39 years, and said he’s always been frustrated by the back-and-forth between the Forest Service and Albany County when it comes to the road.
It runs right next to his house, and he said he put up the gate because he was getting weary of traffic speeding by.
“I’ve had side-by-sides go through my yard doing 30-40 mph, I’m not kidding,” he said.
Mead previously told Cowboy State Daily that he closed his section of the road partly because he was concerned over liability should a speeding driver have a crash there.
“I’m worried about the same thing,” Willams said, which is why he wants people to slow down.
The Forest Service has put up “road closed” signs at the intersection of Boswell Road and Highway 230.
Willams said he’s not happy about that.
“I’ve never stopped anybody from coming through. My gate was put there just to get people to slow down going through my property,” he said. “I hope people realize, it was the Forest Service that closed the road, not me,” he said.
As for where things go from here, Willams said he’s hopeful, but skeptical.
“Public opinion is what’s going to change this whole deal,” he said. “Maybe on the 40th anniversary of me owning the property we’ll get something done.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
