It's all because of a land dispute - which went to court in May of 2015. That's when Michael Modiri sued the government because they had acquired his land - and awarded it to Paumen for his private use.

Modiri told the court that it all started in March of 2013, when Paumen, who was his neighbor in Frank's Eddy, put up a gate, which blocked access to Modiri's landlocked property.

But Paumen also needed to get on Modiri's land to get access to caves. They were supposed to reach an agreement, but in early 2013, someone went unto Modiri's property and cleared a three quarter mile road leading to the caves. When Modiri checked, Paumen was using the road as access to his caves. The government then acquired the property in February of 2015. Now property can only be acquired for a public purpose, but in her judgment Justice Sonya Young notes, quote, "the government through NICH had partnered with Dark Night Cave Tubing - which facilitated tourists visiting the archeological reserve." But they got to that reserve using Modiri's land - which is why government had to acquire it.

That created the curious situation as pointed out by the judge where a private road was created on Modiri's property, for which Modiri had no access.

Government also acquired another piece of land next to Modiri's, yet neither of these private owners could freely access those roads. The judge wearily concludes: "it defies logic and it cannot be right."

With that she found that the compulsory acquisition was not for a public purpose, as the land was not taken in the general interest of the community, but rather solely for the interests of an individual entity.

The judge ruled that the government's decision to acquire the land is, quote, "an error of law, unreasonable, and arbitrary."