OnX Property Boundaries ... Is this Surveying?
I haven't worked in that county for almost 10 years now. I don't know if they still do that, but it was brilliant.
I think this highlights the difference between establishing or retracing boundaries as a land surveyor, and using boundaries as a landowner, hunter, fisher, hiker, etc. Using boundaries is not land surveying and is not regulated, except by charging someone with trespassing if they get it wrong. When I see surveyors who drive monuments underground to prevent the neighbor from finding and moving them, or who will only give out paper maps, not digital ones, I wonder, did they ever consider that someone might want to use the boundary?
How about this: if a landowner or his/her predecessor in conceals a boundary by allowing a land surveyor engaged by him/her to conceal a boundary by driving the monuments underground, or failing to file a digital survey when means exist to do so, or by similar means, such concealment shall be a defense to any charge of trespassing?
Ashton,
I think that's one of the big sales pitches for software and apps like OnX. To make sure you're not crossing boundaries. This sounds good in theory. However we have 2 major problems. Are the data sources (Boundaries) accurate, and how accurate is the recreational GPS being used?
How about this: if a landowner or his/her predecessor in conceals a boundary by allowing a land surveyor engaged by him/her to conceal a boundary by driving the monuments underground, or failing to file a digital survey when means exist to do so, or by similar means, such concealment shall be a defense to any charge of trespassing?
I think you're making the assumption that a landowner can have someone charged with trespassing without giving the person the chance to leave the property. Is that how trespassing laws generally work? I honestly don't know the minutia of them.
I've always been under the impression you have to at least give the person a chance to leave.
That makes me wonder if there's any obligation for the landowner to prove they know where the line is-- like showing the trespasser the pins? Or is their testimony simply good enough?
In preparation for testimony in trespass cases I have confirmed with OnX that their maps, at least in my area (Mesa County, Colorado), are imported directly from the County GIS Assessor's maps. I was told that being a popular hunting region the maps of this area were updated 2 or 3 times a year. That may be so, but I am aware of areas that are well out of date regarding ownership and boundary lines.
My involvement has been related to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers issuing trespass tickets based on the OnX application, primarily along the rivers to waterfowl hunters. A review of the maps, OnX and GIS, reveals large areas without identified ownership along the rivers and canals. These are interpreted by some as "no mans land," leading to seasonal disputes. The gaps result from poorly written deeds, misunderstanding of riparian boundaries in Colorado and other factors, but they do not bother the Assessor as taxes for lands under waters are normally abated anyway. The GIS was built and is maintained to track properties for tax purposes! Occasionally, it is updated based on actual survey data, particularly when new lots are created. Otherwise it is mostly rubber sheeted from scans of historic assessor maps, which were not necessarily to scale. Even when an inaccuracy is discovered it is not an easy thing to correct. Unlike the occasional surveyor who is not bothered by overlapping descriptions, the assessor is very carefull to not assess taxes to multiple parties on the same piece of land. To correct the map for a single parcel may actually require revising the map for an entire section.
That rant over, I am a dedicated user of OnX for recreational activities.
I wonder why Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers are issuing tickets. Are they to hunters on what the officers think are state lands? Is it the alleged trespassers relying on OnX or the officers? Does the state clearly mark their land? I know the state wildlife management areas around me are only well marked at the entrance to the parking areas.
These were cases where an adjoining landowner was identified on the OnX map, improperly in my opinion, as the owner and they requested a ticket issued to a hunter there by permission of another adjoiner. I have had numerous conversations with wardens recommending caution in issuing tickets based on the OnX maps. I suppose that is the best resource available to them.
I suppose they could just say to the purported property owner making a complaint "where's your posted signs? Oh, you didn't mark your property lines? Then I don't have probable cause to issue a ticket, and the hunter didn't form mens rea because he/she didn't know he/she believed he/she was on a different piece of property.
In Colorado property lines are not required to be posted in order for a trespass to occur. It is the indivuals responsibility to know where they are.
In Colorado property lines are not required to be posted in order for a trespass to occur. It is the indivuals responsibility to know where they are.
How absurd.
What's to stop the supposed trespasser from insisting they know where the line is and that they're not trespassing?
