That guy was using the road for access to public land. It doesn't necessarily matter who owns the land under a road because the use of the road is supposed to offer access rights. The problem is the guy doesn't have enough money to take on billionaires to assert his access rights.
Totally agree, and that is exactly the kind of thing I'd like to call out - because land ownership is just the first step in knowing what you can and cannot do on that land. There are many other factors.
Likewise, sometimes mining claimants believe they can keep people off their claim, which isn't the legal reality - they have the rights to the materials on the land, not exclusive access. Yet another reality of the West is that you don't argue legalities with the prospector who is holding a gun on you telling you to go away.
> the prospector who is holding a gun on you telling you to go away.
That would qualify as assault [1], and should result in the prospector going to jail. But if the US legal system worked as it should, it would be almost completely unrecognizable...
