The U.S. government can’t convert old railroad tracks into hiking and biking trails without compensating the owners of the property, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The decision, which resolves an 11-year legal battle, could affect thousands of people across the nation who own land being converted into nature trails under the 1983 Rails-to-Trails Act.
That law gave local groups the authority to take unused railroad property and convert the land into trails.
Since creation of the program, more than 8,000 miles of track have been converted into trails, and another 23,000 miles of trails are planned.
The dispute before the court concerned a stretch of land along Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vt.
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The Rutland-Canadian Railroad Co. acquired the right to lay tracks and run its trains through the land in 1899.
That right passed to several other railroads until the Vermont Railway stopped running trains on the property in 1970 and removed the tracks in 1975.
After Congress passed the Rails-to-Trails Act, Burlington converted the land into a biking and walking path.
Paul and Patricia Presault, who owned the land, filed a complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission, beginning the 11-year legal odyssey that has involved one trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a 6-3 ruling, the appeals court said the use of the land constituted a “taking” of the property, which the Constitution permits only if the government pays the property owner.
The court said that Rutland-Canadian acquired only an “easement” in 1899, meaning that the railroad could use the property for certain purposes but that title to the land remained with the original owners.
The U.S. government argued that, because of its regulatory power over the railroad industry, it assumed all rights previously possessed by the railroads.
The court said that, even if that were the case, the government had no right to something the property owners never gave up.
In this case, the court said, neither the railroads nor the government ever acquired the right to use the land for anything other than a railway.
“The government’s use of the property for a public trail constitutes a new, unauthorized use,” said Judge S. Jay Plager, who wrote the court’s main opinion.
The court also said the federal government abandoned any interest it had in the property when the Vermont Railway removed the tracks in 1975.
Though local officials, not the federal authorities, took over the land, the court said the U.S. government is responsible for compensating the Presaults.