Is there a way to track an ip address from a forum or message board and get the location wheather private or public?

You can try tracing it through ARIN's WHOIS. (http://ws.arin.net/whois/) If it's a fixed IP address, you might be able to identify the owner if the info is available, but if it's a pooled IP address you'll only be able to trace back to the ISP, and if it's a cloaked IP address, you'll only be able to trace back to the cloaking service.

You can get to the ISP and that's about it, sometimes the general location of the POP.
Any further and you'll require court action.

BUT, if they are on AOL you are relatively stuffed as they proxy all their connections, so it appears numerous people are using the same IP.