The Minnesota Appeals Court, on Monday, confirmed that the Blackwood Trust’s Lots 4 and 5 reach Prairie Lake in St. Louis County, effectively overturning a $148,500 award that had been granted to neighbors Vicky Jo Ulvestad and Lawrence Craig Hammonds.
The case—rooted in a boundary dispute that began in 2017—has seen two conflicting surveys over the past decade. A 1997 survey placed Lot 4 outside the lake, while a 2010 reassessment by the same surveyor found it to touch the water, prompting the trust to build a cabin and clear a path through what the neighbors claimed as their land.
In December 2024, the appeals panel cited an 1870 government map as critical evidence, noting that historic shoreline lines could dictate present boundaries. A fresh survey in April 2025 employed the long‑lake method, aligning the trust’s Lots 4 and 5 with the lake without crossing Lot 3, a conclusion the lower court accepted.
The ruling cancels the $148,500 award and dismisses all trespassing claims against the trust. Ulvestad and Hammonds’ subsequent appeal was rejected, and the case is now closed unless a higher court intervenes.
For the trust, the decision means continued use of its cabin and path; for the neighbors, it ends a nine‑year legal battle and leaves their property adjacent to the lake without direct water access.