Bos Terra, LP v. Beers, 2015 MT 201 (July 14, 2015) (McKinnon, J.) (5-0, aff’d)
Issue: (1) Whether the district court properly found that the June 20, 1977 easement was an easement in gross; (2) whether the district court properly held that Bos Terra is a third party assignee rather than a successor to the easement; and (3) whether the district court erred in finding Bos Terra’s use of the ditch easement permissive rather than prescriptive.
Short Answer: (1) Yes; (2) yes; and (3) no.
Affirmed
Facts: In 1977, Barrett granted to Stevensons and Kolars a right of way easement for transporting water. Stevensons and Kolars installed a pipeline from the Judith River to the top of a hill, at which point a 100-foot-long ditch was dug to connect the pipeline to the Enterprise Ditch, which had been abandoned.…