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National Association of Reversionary Property Owners
National Association of
Reversionary Property Owners
Double click the blue above for a primer on
railroad rights of way
NARPO
Property Rights Advocates
Property Owner's Rights on the Rails to Trails
Issue
This Web Page is brought to you by Dick Welsh, the executive
director of NARPO. NARPO's address: 227 Bellevue Way N.E. Suite 719
Bellevue, WA 98004 --- Due to ongoing virus problems, NARPO will not
open any e-mail unless the subject line contains any of the following
words: rail trail, trails, or property rights. NARPO's E-mail address
is: dick156@earthlink.net
NARPO is a non-profit, tax exempt foundation dedicated to
principles that private property ownership must be maintained in the
hands of citizens and not the government. NARPO's major goal is to
assist property owners in maintaining their complete land ownership
and resisting government confiscation. We hope to keep you up to date
on the latest court cases and federal and state law changes that
effect the property rights of reversionary property owners to
railroad rights-of-way. Feel free to browse and leave an e-mail
message at the end of the page.
Mr. Web-Counter
says you are visitor in thousands
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD ANY OF THE ISSUES AND ARTICLES LISTED ON THIS WEB
PAGE BY USING THE PRINT FUNCTION ON THE FILE MENU OF YOUR WEB
BROWSER.
Updated September 14, 2008
NARPO's Railroad Right of Way Primer
on Railroad Easements and Reversionary Rights
NARPO has available a 1,050 page collection in loose leaf
formation that has numerous media articles and testimonials and the
bad effects of rails to trail and rail trails in general. The cost is
$120 which includes postal shipping. If you need faster shipping,
then an additional freight charge of $48 will be added on. If you
want just the 600 plus pages that are media articles about trail
crime and other trail problems, the cost is $62.00 or $84.00 for
expedited freight. E-mail NARPO at:dick156@earthlink.net -- for your
copy and remember to put the correct words(rails to trails or
property rights) in the subject line or NARPO will not open the
e-mail due to virus problems.
Site
Index--page down to choice
The Latest News on Rails To
Trails (RTC)
Trail Crime Statistics
Class Action Lawsuit
Information
Ongoing Issues &
Technical Papers
Court Cases on Rails To
Trails Issues
Congressional Testimony on
RTC Issues
Related Internet Links
THE LATEST NEWS ON RAILS TO TRAILS (RTC)
8/4/2008—Here
is an article about a Seattle bike trail costing $9 million a mile to
put on a flat surface already prepared. This is another example of a
liberal government gone amok with taxpayers dollars.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008157565_burkegilman04m.html
8/8/2008—This
is a web site on property rights from Florida. A couple of the recent
cases cited are very instructive for property owners fighting for
their rights. http://www.proprights.com
4/28/2008—The
Penn. Supreme Court has decided to review a lower court decision on a
railroad right of way issue concerning a bike trail on the right of
way. This case has been ongoing for almost 10 years. See the link
below. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_564428.html
5/18/2008--Below are
quite a few new links to trail crimes throughout the United States
http://www.nbc4.com/news/15620679/detail.html
http://www.runtex.com/web/1-417.asp
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=4450319
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_040308WAB_stmartins_sexual_assault_SW.2a499356.html
http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1016277&auth=Michael+Jiggins%2C+Staff+Writer
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2403222/
http://content.stlmomsworld.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=139878
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/2003/12dec/121003joggerassulted.html
http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/09/20/News/Bike-Trail.Crimes.Are.Cause.For.Concern-2979852.shtml
http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1019437&auth=MICHAEL+JIGGINS
http://ridethisbike.com/2006/11/2-buffalo-ny-bike-trail-crimes-make.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/31/AR2007073102314.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/09/BALHUBE1A.DTL
http://www.dailypress2.com/crime/jcc/street/pocahontas-trail/
http://www.contracostatimes.com/crimeandcourts/ci_9270845
http://jezebel.com/388169/college-senior-is-sexually-assaulted-while-group-of-dudes-cheer
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/Departments/Police/news/printarticle.asp?ID=357
http://atfiles.org/files/pdf/SilverCometMurder.pdf
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/9583095/detail.html
4/28/2008 This is not a
Rails to Trails case, but it shows you can beat the government at
their own game. Jax
Jury
Awards Land
Owner
$67 Million
Occasionally, true justice prevails. In past editions, CPR has
highlighted the highly aggressive eminent domain actions of the
Jacksonville Port Authority. The agency appears to have no
compunction in using eminent domain whenever they believe doing so
will enrich their agency's coffers. This week, a jury may
have done what public and even national media criticism could not.
In returning a $67 million award to Keystone Coal company owner, Tom
Scholl, a small panel of ordinary citizens may have finally "checked"
JaxPort's appetite. This verdict may represent the largest eminent
domain jury award ever levied in Florida circuit courts. Since
2006, Scholl has battled for his right to keep and use his land:
70-acres of prime real estate along the St. Johns River which
includes deep water frontage and direct railroad access. Scholl
bought the property from another private owner, after both he and
JaxPort lost a competitive bidding opportunity. He had intended to
develop it into a large-scale coal/bulk cargo terminal and spent
several million dollars preparing the site for its future use.
Despite these facts, JaxPort officials continued to market the
property and negotiate with other more preferred end users. Their
targets even included another larger coal company. Undaunted in their
quest for his land, the Port filed a formal condemnation action just
a few months prior to Florida's eminent domain reforms taking
effect. JaxPort's actions were so egregious this case was
featured in a special segment of the Hannity & Colmes show.
However, because their filing preceded the effective date of
the new state laws which now prohibit transfers and leases to private
owners, a judge ruled in the Port's favor and allowed the agency to
proceed with this unconscionable taking. Thankfully, Florida's
eminent domain process has several components. While a judge can rule
on the permissibility of a government agency to take land for public
purposes, compensation is decided by citizen juries. The review of
property valuations by ordinary citizens provides a vital safety net
for Florida property owners, as both elected and appointed judges
have the potential to be influenced by political pressures. In
pre-trial proceedings, for example, a local judge ruled Scholl's
attorney could not introduce one of the most important pieces of
evidence pertaining to the property's potential value: a memo
from JaxPort indicating they were negotiating to lease the property
for $11 million per year to one of Scholl's competitors, Drummond
Coal. This document was a work product of a public agency openly
disputing the value of this land and should have been welcomed by the
court. However, even without this information, the jury was not
fooled. They were diligent in their review of other key facts and
recognized the property's global market value far exceeded the Port's
suspiciously-low valuation of the property at $17 million. Because
this condemnation was filed as a "slow take," JaxPort's
Board now has a final opportunity to consider whether or not the cost
of seizing Mr. Scholl's property is too high, or they could decide to
let him keep his land. Either way this ultimately plays out, it
is a great victory for property rights! Florida land owners
should join the Scholl family in celebrating. After several years of
victimization and being burdened by unnecessary stress and costly
litigation which he and his family did not seek out, justice has
prevailed! Congratulations to attorneys Andrew Brigham,
Jackson Bowman and Mark Natirboff of Brigham Moore law firm and to
real estate appraiser Heyward Cantrell for capably "making the
case" in this landmark valuation trial! CPR commentary
on this case was featured in the Jacksonville Times Union article,
"Jury Verdict Could Foil Port's Coal Site Plan." For full
text:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/050608/bus_275704265.shtml
**November
20, 2007-The following link is to a great court win for northwestern
Ohio residents who have been battling their local park district since
1997 about a trail through their property. The park district built a
trail and would not pay the resident for the “taking”
even though the residents owned the land. The residents went
through many court fights at the local level which they lost, but
they prevailed at the Ohio Supreme Court on November 20th.
Now the park district either has to pay all their court costs and
just compensation for the land taken, or the park district must
remove the trail which is probably what will happen because of the
costs. But the resident’s attorney fees and costs will
have to be paid anyway by the park district as the residents were
very smart and sued under laws that allow attorney fees and cost to
the prevailing party. Usually under American law, you have to
pay your own attorney fees whether you win or lose, but there are
some laws that allow recovery of attorney fees and costs which is why
it is important to choose an attorney that knows what they are doing
(most don’t) when it comes to property rights. See the case
results here-
http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/rod/newpdf/0/2007/2007-Ohio-6057.pdf
**November
18, 2007-This link-
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/homepage/local_story_314225101.html?keyword=leadpicturestory
is
an excellent story about people who do not want a trail through their
property, and how these people are fighting the local green group who
is pushing for the trail.
**November
15, 2007-This link is an article about residents fighting an
extension of an existing trail. The trails zealots even admit
that the existing trail is poorly managed and has lots of problems.
See
http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/sccbb/0606bb/0606Board13_Big_Sur_Coastal_Trail_Ex3.pdf
**October
27, 2007-A NARPO member sent me an article from the Omaha World
Herald dated 10/11/2007 which describes how Crawford County, Iowa had
to pay a stupid biker $350,000 because the biker couldn’t avoid
a bump in one of the county’s roads and injured himself.
Now the County has banned all bike traffic on its roads, especially
an annual bike ride put on by some newspaper. And people wonder
why most folks despise bikers!
**October
15, 2007-The following URL is a letter from U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Mary Peters to the Rails To Trails Conservancy
concerning Mary’s previous national statement that bike trails
use up too much of the federal gas tax. This all came about because
of the uproar that there was not enough money to fix the bad bridges
like the one that collapsed in Minnesota. Now if we can only convince
Congress to quit wasting the 10 percent of the federal gas tax on
bike trails! Don’t hold your breath!
http://support.railstotrails.org/site/DocServer/peters_response.pdf?docID=241&JServSessionIdr009=n019h7qv03.app6a
**September
14, 2007-This 51 page report by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma shows
how bike trails steal hundreds of millions of our gas tax dollars for
bike trails. Senator Coburn prepared this report so he could
introduce an amendment to the Transportation Funding bill now before
Congress to stop bike trail funding until the nations bridges were
repaired to usable standards. Of course the great Congress defeated
his amendment. The report lists $12 million in earmarks for bike
trails besides the 10 percent Enhancement Fund money already
earmarked for non-road use.
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=baa16381-4374-42bc-a1a6-14500274f120
**September
1, 2007- This is a quote by the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) Secretary Mary Peters. She told the media that 10 percents of
federal gas tax is being spent on bike trails. She is 100 percent
correct as the Transportation Enhancement Fund is mostly spent on
bike trails, and the Enhancement Fund is 10 percent of the federal
gas tax.
“… there's about
probably some 10 percent to 20 percent of the current
[transportation] spending that is going to projects that really are
not transportation, directly transportation-related… like bike
paths or trails." U.S. Department of Transportation
Secretary Mary Peters, Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Aug. 15, 2007
This
exchange between Jim Lehrer and Mary Peters came about because some
in Congress want to increase the gas tax to pay for bad bridges like
the one in Minneapolis that fell down. Mary Peters want to take the
10 percent Enhancement funds and pay for the bridges. What a novel
Idea!!!
**August
21, 2007-A story about bike trail serial murderer.
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,293272,00.html
**May
21, 2007-Read an article by an emergency room physician about the bad
effects of snowmobiles on people and on the environment--
http://www.northwoodswild.org/newspro/viewnews.cgi?id=EEEyuukuykuakcmwUQ
**May
20, 2007 An article about why you don’t want a snowmobile trail
near you.
http://www.northwoodswild.org/downloads/arc_srg_snowmobilereport.pdf
**March
1, 2007-The Surface Transportation Board (STB) which regulates
railroads and trail use has moved and their phones numbers have all
changed. The new main number is 202-245-0245. The STB
General Counsel is 202-245-0262. Other STB phone numbers can be
found on the STB web site: http://www.stb.dot.gov
This
page
has all the phone numbers
http://www.stb.dot.gov/stb/docs/KeyContacts_4-23-07.pdf
The
new address for the STB is 395 “E” Street, Washington,
DC 20423.
**March
12, 2007-Click on the following link to see a case from the federal
appeals court from Virginia where the court ruled that a property
owner can sue for a Fourth Amendment violation of search and seizure
when a city allowed people to trespass on private property for trail
use. This is another tactic we can use to get control of our
property rights.
http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/052344.P.pdf
**November
4, 2006-Bicyclists are always painted as such nice folks. See
this NY Times articles for another view.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/opinion/29fri2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
**November
4, 2006-Aren’t the trail zealots always telling up how trail
uses keep the trails free of crime and trash. See this story.
http://home.earthlink.net/~dick156/cct.doc
**October
24, 2006-This story is by a bicycle group about the benefits of
riding on roads versus trails.
http://www.bicyclinglife.com/EffectiveAdvocacy/TheRoadsWeHave.htm
**October
15, 2006-This is an article about how trail users are not the
eco-friendly they make themselves out to be.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301285.html?referrer=emailarticle
**September
24, 2006-Here is an interesting comment from an observer in Peoria,
Illinois about a proposed rail trail. See this link
http://home.earthlink.net/~dick156/PeoriaTrail.doc
**September
11, 2006—Five more trail crimes that came to our attention.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5390980&nav=menu24_2
http://www.nbc30.com/news/3617012/detail.html
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/11/news_pf/Citrus/Man_accused_in_assaul.shtml
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/2003/12dec/121003joggerassulted.html
http://www.news10.net/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=19318
**August
24, 2006-See this link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/17/AR2006081701613_3.html
to
see how crowded some trails are
and how dangerous they can be to life!
**July
11, 2006-Here is an article about two women killed on a popular trail
near Seattle. The trail zealots tell us popular trails are
crime immune because so many people are on the trail. That does
not seem the case!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003124787_webhikersslain13.html
**July
15, 2006-Here is a letter to the editor by a former city councilman
about eminent domain (Condemnation).
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060715/OPINION03/607150317/1014/OPINION
July
12, 2006- A further story on the trail killings above. Read
through the article and notice near the end where they say you
shouldn’t travel alone on trails. If these trails are so great
and safe, why is it necessary to travel in a crowd to be safe?
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=forestcrime13m&date=20060713&query=Forest+Killings
**April
26, 2006-No eminent domain for trails in Monroe County, Indiana.
See this here
**April 26, 2006-Who would
ever had thought that trails could cause pollution!!
Click here
**MARCH 14, 2006—Even
14,000 miles for the U.S. and they still have problems with rail
trails.
Click
here
**March 14, 2006—This
is an interesting article about how all trails are not good.
See here
**February 13, 2006—Here
is a great federal site for finding copies of the land patent the
government issued for your property.
Click here
and click on the upper middle tab labeled “Standard”.
Then type in your state, county, section, township and range, and it
spits out all the patents for that section of land. You can either
get copies directly from the site or order them from the site. This
is great info for those trying to prove they own the underlying title
to the right of way especially if you are in the west and have
government grant rights of way in the area.
**January 1, 2006—Here
is a case decided in September 2005 where the court rules that a
fiber optic cable was not consistent with a railroad right of way
use.
See the case here
and then click on “Query in plain English” and type in
“Home On The Range v AT&T” and slick okay. The 50
page case will come up in a .pdf file.
&&January 9,
2006—A Pennsylvania County Judge ruled for landowners in a very
acrimonious case that has been ongoing for over 10 years.
The judge ruled that the landowners owned the railroad right of
way in fee simple title. Also there was not a federal rails to trails
designation attached to the abandonment. The judge also ruled that
the landowners can go ahead with their lawsuit against the trail
groups on trespass and slander of title. Click here
**January 3, 2006—Some
articles about why bikers make bad trail companions.
Click
here
**January 1, 2006—An
article about how the bike folks were pushing for a bad trail.
Click here
**January 1, 2006—A
bike advocate tells why bike trails are bad compared to riding on
roads.
Click here
**October 25, 2005--More
shenanigans on the part of a planning board on trail issues.
Be aware that these planning boards put these trail plans in and then
years later say that it has been the wishes of the people for all
those years. Click here
**December 1, 2005—This
article is about new federal EPA rules on pollution sites.
The article delineates out what federal agencies must do before
allowing federal action on a potential project. This very well
pertains to the STB and how they allow trails on railroad rights of
way which are nothing but linear toxic waste dumps in most cases.
Click on here
**November 26, 2005—A
website article about how bikes are better on roads that on trails.
Click here
**November 20, 2005—An
article from the Los Angeles Transportation Dept., about how it is
safer for bikes to be ob sidewalks rather than roads.
Click here
**October 20, 2005--The
article below describes a typical scenario for trails and eminent
domain. A few holdouts face hostile seizure of their
properties.
Click here
**September 21, 2005—Here
is a short letter to the editor concerning trails and hurricane
Katrina and spending. Click here
**7/20/2005 The link below
is the testimony to Congress of Chuck Cushman executive director of
the American Land Rights Association, he has wonderful examples of
trails gone amok because of the National Trails Act. As he points out
about how trails mutate, first the trail advocates claim that only
the "willing" landowners will be expected to host a trail.
Then the trail folks get impatient, which is quickly followed by
eminent domain. They and their government agencies have
all the power, while lonely landowners are left to fend for
themselves. here
**7/15/05 An article about
a 1993 NARPO study on usage of rail trails.
Click on:
here
**4/15/05 Lawyer sues a
town, resort, and 2 trail outfits when he gets injured on a
recreational trail in Toronto.
A personal-injury lawyer
filed a $1 million dollar lawsuit on behalf of himself when he got
hurt on a trail after falling off his bike. A short
article is followed by a bunch of bikers' comments. This is
truly an inspiring event. Click
here
**Farm awarded $400,000 in
trail lawsuit in Newton, N.H.
A court awarded the
settlement based on past damages and potential future damage to the
farm, which adjoins a recreational trail. Click here
**4/4/05 Another very good
court decision just came down for property owners on government grant
rights of way.
A very definitive decision
by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit says that
property owners owning land abutting railroad rights of way where the
right of way was granted to a railroad by the government, the right
of way belongs to the abutting property owner. And if a rail trail
has been put on the right of way after railroad abandonment, then the
abutting property owner is due just compensation. To see a copy of
the decision click
here. This
case is cited as: Hash v. U.S. 403 F.3d 1308 (2005). If any property
owner fits into this category, then they can use this decision to get
their just compensation for having a trail through their property.
You might want to call either John Groen in the western states at
425-453-6206 or Nels Ackerson in Washington, D.C., at 202-833-8833.
**4/4/05 An article on
trail problems in Canada
The article is an Adobe
pdf file. Click here
**3/19/05 A very good
court decision just came down for property owners
The case below is a hot
link to a Federal Claims Court decision on a federally granted right
of way that is being turned into a rail trail. The property
owner won a big decision on the ownership issue of the right of way
easement. The decision is written in a way that positively
affects all government granted rights of way and overrides many
adverse decisions. It is 33 pages long, but well worth reading
for those property owners affected. If you have any questions, please
email me. Dick Welsh--NARPO Click here.
This case is cited as: Beres v. U.S. 64 Fed.Cl. 403, 427 (2005).
**3/15/05 Hope for
property owner abutting a rail trail
A group of property owners
in south central Washington State spent a lot of time following what
a trails’ group and the railroad did after the trails’
group acquired the rights for a trail on an abandoned rail line. They
discovered the railroad had sold off some land that disconnected the
rail line from a connection to another rail line. It just so happens
that the federal rails to trails law exists under the fiction that a
railroad can restart service and connect it to the national rail
system. If a railroad cuts the possibility of future connection to
the national rail system, then the STB loses jurisdiction and the
rail trail can disappear. A court case to decide just that has been
filed. For further information you can contact the attorneys
representing the property owners—Nels Ackerson at 202-833-8833.
**1/15/05 To see a good
form letter for a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request click
here.
This form letter is geared toward a request to a federal agency, but
it can be adopted for a FOIA request from any government entity. Any
time you are involved with a controversy with a government entity,
you need to know what they have been doing and what their plans are.
The best way to get to see their files is with a FOIA request. Best
of all, if the entity denies your request or doesn’t answer in
the proper time, you are entitled to daily damages and attorney fees.
This form letter came from the Property Rights Foundation of America,
http://www.prfamerica.org
**1/5/05 This is a very
good write-up on the economic and physical effects of having
snowmobile trails near or next to your property. This is a very well
done paper and should be quotable when you are discussing the issue
you’re your elected and appointed officials. Click here
**12/13/04 Sprint,
Qwest, Other Telecoms Face New Multi-Billion Dollar Threat.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on December 13, 2004
handed down a decision that exposes Sprint, Qwest, Level 3, and
Williams to more than $3 billion of liability in federal and state
class actions that we are pursuing nationwide. The decision reversed
a controversial nationwide class action settlement favored by the
telecom companies, which we had opposed. More details can be found in
an article in Telephony
Online.
**Dec 10. 04 Settles
in More States
. As a continuation of our nationwide settlement negotiations in
the AT&T Fiber Optic Class Actions, the presiding federal judge
has set final approval of settlements in Massachusetts and Michigan
for January 14, 2005. Details are found at a
href="http://att.fsiwebs.net/rrcorridors/>" here.
**Dec 1. 04 - Conrail
Settles Class Action.
The Circuit Court in Montgomery County, Indiana, has approved a
class action settlement that will remove Conrail's claims on all of
its abandoned railroad rights of way in Indiana. The Indiana Supreme
Court earlier ruled in favor of our landowner clients in a landmark
decision that established their ownership rights. A final fairness
hearing is scheduled in Crawfordsville, Indiana on January 13, 2005.
**8/28/04 The U.S. Supreme
Court has agreed to has a Connecticut eminent domain (Condemnation)
case where a city condemned homes to give the land to a developer
The city of New London, CT., wanted to raise their tax base so
they condemned homes and businesses and sold the land to developers
to put higher tax use businesses on the property. When government
condemns land it is supposed to be for a public use, not a private
use. The case will be heard in the spring of 2005. To see the press
release from the Institute of Justice click
here
**8/7/04 Here is an
article about Union Pacific Railroad taking improper tax deductions
for railroad rights of way going to trails
from the New York Times. Click
here
**7/20/04 A New Property
Value Study by the City of Portland, OR., that shows owning land near
or next to a trail or park devalues your property
Click here
to read and download a copy of this study. The City of Portland,
OR., paid for this study to see if their regulations and spending
were worthwhile from a fiscal standpoint. Living next to a trail was
worst than living next to a cemetery for devaluation of your
property’s’ worth. Anyone living next to one of these
trails already knew this fact, but it took a distinguished college
professor to do an in-depth study to show how trails devalue property
next to or near a trail (or cemetery). NARPO’s property value
study (which is listed a little farther down this web page) from 1977
through 1998 showed the same result. You will need Adobe Reader to
view this file.
**10/22/04 Trail crimes
this past week
click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, and
click here.
**9/25/04 Trail crimes
across America
click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, and
click here,
**9/18/04 Ten days of
trail crimes across America
click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, and
click here.
**9/8/04 A week of trail
crimes across America
click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, click
here, and
click here.
**8/26/04 A short week of
trail crimes across America
click
here. click
here. click
here. click
here. click
here. and
click here.
**5/1/04The Michigan
Supreme Court finally gets it right
A property owner didn’t want her land taken by eminent
domain (condemnation) so a private entity could use her land
commercially so she sued to stop the condemnation. The Michigan
Supreme Court ruled in her favor and threw out a 23 year old Michigan
Supreme Court precedence decision. You can read this great decision
at: click
here.
**4/10/04 Great News for
abutting property owners in the Williamsburg, Mass.,area
A Mass., court ruled that the property owners abutting a railroad
right of way in Williamsburg were the rightful owners to the right of
way. According to the news article below, this kills the proposed
bike trail. See here
**A study on the false
economic assumptions of trails
Download here
this study and show it to your local governments who are trying
to push through a trailand justify the trail by its economics.
This file is in .pdf format and Adobe Acrobat Reader is necessary
to read the study. You can download a copy of Adobe Acrobat
Reader here
**A study done over a 20
year period on property values
on adjacent homes and property to a rail trail found
here This will be in Word 6.0 for Windows format. Read this
and use itwhen you have to show elected officials how rails
trails will affectyour property values. For a color graph of this
property value disparity on the Burke-Gilman Trail click
hereYou will need Adobe Reader to read and download this
chart.
**3/10/04 Click on this
URL to see that trails in Canada
are just as bad on adjacent property owners as they are in the
United States. Also note that the hidden agenda and political
stalling by trail groups and local politicians have followed north
across the border. click
here
**12/28/03 A current
article about the state of the class action lawsuits
against telecommunication companies with fiber optic lines in
railroad rights of way. click
here
**10/6/03 An article on a
settlement on a class action lawsuit.
AT&T has settled with thousands of property owners owning land
abutting railroads rights of way where AT&T and other
communication companies have laid fiber optic cable in the rights of
way. Abutting property owners can now apply for their share of the
settlement. The contact number is in the
article
**9/28/03 This direct link
is a compilation of articles
and other links on how to solve the problem of trespassing by ATVs
and snowmobiles.
This link has quite a few sublinks. “solving the ATV
Problem” is a good one to start with.
**June 1, 2003, Two
California property owners get $360,000 rails to trails settlement
from Federal government
The federal government paid $360,000 to two California property
owners for a 600 foot piece of property taken by a rails to trails
project. Pretty pricey trail at 600 dollars a foot; of course paid
for by unknowing U.S. taxpayers. See the court results in the U.S.
Court of Federal Claims web site-http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/. As
of June 9, the two cases were not posted on the web site. They are
Case No. 00-508 L and No. 01-107 L. The Court of Claims’ phone
number is: 202-219-9657
**May 27, 2003, Not a very
pretty picture of a Detroit area trail.
This articles shows the problems of trails to adjoining
landowners. Click here
**3/10/03 Great win for
Mass., property owners
The Mass., Supreme Court ruled that the railroad did not own fee
title to the right of way, and the land belonged to the abutting
property owners. For the text of the Court decision click here
**2/19/03 Great federal
court win for
Pennsylvania property owners
This is a rails to trails case. See court decision here
**8/1/02 An article in the
“American Lawyer” about the court wins by Nels Ackerson
on Rails to Trails issues. Clickhere
.
**September
12, 2002-Medway, MA., property owners convince the city council to
kill a proposed rail trail. See
here
CURRENT
TRAIL CRIME ARTICLES
The
trail crime stories below are direct links to media outlets. After
awhile, these links will not connect. For printed copies of these
grisly stories on trail crimes, contact NARPO at the above address.
8/17/04
The past weeks’ 14 trail crimes
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
8/9/04
The past seven days of 19 trail crimes
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
8/2/04
The past six days internet search shows 19 trail crimes
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here, click here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here.
7/26/04
In six days 20 twenty trail crime reported on America’s bike
trails.
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
7/20/04
A rather active 10 days of crime on America’s bike trails.
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
NOT
SO LATEST NEWS ON RAIL TRAILS
Judicary
Committee Testimony on Rails to Trails Takings Cost
the
U.S. House Judicary Committee heard testimony on the cost to the
federal government of rails to trails taking cases. The two
following links are in Rich Text Format (rtf) so either MS Word
or Word Perfect can read them. The pro rails to trails crowd's
testimoney is omitted as it might upset your stomach. Click
hereand
here
CLASS
ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST DOMINION AND VEPCO TO RECOVER FOR
PROPERTY TAKEN WITHOUT COMPENSATION
Richmond,Virginia,
June 20, 2002- Landowners filed a class action lawsuit against
Dominion Telecom and Virginia Electric & Power Company today
in the United States District Court in Richmond, Virginia.
Contact Nels Ackersonat 202-833-8833 for further information.
FEDS
TAKE PROPERTY FOR A TRAIL; TAKE TAXPAYERS FOR A RIDE FOR A 1,200 FOOT
BIKE TRAIL THAT IS 8 FEET WIDE; TOTAL COST TO TAXPAYERS $1.5 MILLION
Click
here
for the court decision
The
following is courtesy of Mountain States Legal Foundation of Denver,
CO. On May 22, 2002, the U.S.Court of Federal Claims orderedthe
United States to pay J. Paul and Patricia Preseault ofBurlington,
Vermont for the unconstitutional taking oftheir property, that
is, without paying for it. The UnitedStates was ordered to pay:
$234,000, plus interest from theFebruary 5, 1986 date of the
taking, for a total of$551,931.30; and $894,855.60 in attorneys'
fees. The UnitedStates will be writing a check for $1,446,786.90!
The
United States will be writing that check because, in1983,
Congress amended the National Trails Act, by enactingthe Rails to
Trails Act, which prevents railroad easementsthat cross private
property from reverting to the landownersafter railroads abandon
rail service. Thus, the owners aredenied the reversionary rights
to which they are entitledby: their deeds, the contract into
which they or theirpredecessors entered with the railroad, and
state law. Instead, if the easements are sought for trail use,
theUnited States instructs the railroads that they may
abandonrail service only if they transfer the easement for that
purpose.
6/6/2002
Rail trail collapsed from flooding
Contaminants
from rail bed pollutes private property. Click here
for
media article.
1/
23/2002-Indiana Property Owners Win $7 Million from CSX Railroad
After
seven years of court battles, the Indiana property owners finallywon
their suit against CSX Railroad. CSX had tried to sell the right
ofways in Indiana for communication uses and not pay the abutting
property owners who actually owned the land the rights of way
were on. See the attachedlink for the press release from the lead
attorney for the property owners-click
here
Kansas
Tax Appeals Board Rules Against Rails to Trails Tax Exemption
January
10, 2002-A non-profit rail trail group, which never had a nickel
totheir name, tried to get the Kansas Tax Board to give them an
exemption fromstate property taxes. The Tax Board saw through
their ruse anddenied them the tax exemption. The rail trail group
now has to pay theirtaxes or it is the end of their rail trail.
Nobody will probably miss itanyway as hardly anyone used it.
THE
RIGHT WAY TO CURE RIGHT-OF-WAY WRONGS
An
article by Nels Ackerson recently published in The Telecom Real
Estate Advisor here
Included
is a complete list of all the class action lawsuitsin the United
States on rail trail issues. In Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format
Major
Property Settlement with Railroad on Fiber Optic Cable Issue
August
29, 2001. Attorneys for property owners abutting Norfolk Southern
Railroad rights of way in 15 midwestern states forged a
settlement with Norfolk Southern where more than 50,000 property
owners will receive millions of dollars plus a shareholder interest
in a new corporation. The corporation, Class Corridor, LLC., will
manage the fiber optic easements on the property owners rights of
way and split the profits with the property owners. This is a
very unique settlement the way it is structured. If you want further
information on the settlement, contact the attorney for the property
owners, Nels Ackerson at 202-833-8833. See the press release in
MS Word format at here
Here
is a great new web site on property rights
click
here
Carmel,
Indiana property owners win an injunction against MCI/WorldCom to
stop work on a fiber optic project through their property.
On
June 28, 2001, MCI/WorldCom was told to stop work because they were
knowingly trespassing on land they did not own or have a right to be
on. . See the attorney's press release in MS Word format at here.
See another press release on this case at here.
After
15 years, Paul and Patricia Preseault finally got a compensation
award from the Federal Claims Court on their rails to trails taking.
Tuesday,
May 22, 2001, the Preseaults were awarded $234,000 plus attorney
feesOf 1.3 million for 15 years, interest on the $234,000 for 15
years, expert witness fees, and other costs. See the Press
Release below in MS Wordclick
here.
In
a Spokane,Washington Spokesman Review article about trail crime
the
police recommend you not walk alone. Sounds like a great place to
recreate.
Massachusetts
YMCA does not want a rail trail next to it because of the problems
caused by these
trails.
How
to search for deeds to railroad rights-of-way
The
National Archives located in College Park, Maryland has all the
originalrailroad right-of-way identification maps the railroads
were required to file in1913. These maps, sometimes called Plat
or Evaluation maps, show how every railroad in America acquired
their rights-of-way. The maps list whothe railroads acquired the
land from, the type of conveyance of thedeed, and where the deed
copy is stored in county records across the country.The National
Archive's phone number is: 301-713-7250. The maps arestored in
Record Group 134 in the civil reference branch. Mr. Dave Pfieffer
and Joe Schwatz are the most knowledgeable about the maps although
age and retirement may have caught up to these gentlemen. The
maps are five feet by three feet and usually cover one or more
sections of land. You will need to know what railroad was using
the landin 1913 and what section township and range your property
is located. There arethousands of maps in the National Archive's
possession. There is an index ofthe maps which narrows down the
search so it only takes a few minutes to findthe correct map. The
College Park campus can be reached from the Washington,DC.,
office via a bus from the DC National Archives office. Security is
verytight at the College Park campus so be prepared to be
fingerprinted.
A
great letter to the editor about a bad rail trail
Click
here
A
big reversionary rights win for property owners in Alabama
The
Alabama Supreme Court on January 10, 2001, ruled an Alabama railsto
trails statute would not work in Alabama because it took
property(reversionary rights) without compensation.The case
is Chatham v. Blount County CV-97-208, will be published shortly
in the 3rd Federal Reporter.
Three
years of persistence for property owners helped to defeat a trail in
Kansas
Residents
of Lindborg, Kansas convinced their city council not to apply
forfunding for a rail trail. The residents worked three years to
get the city council to not go along with the trail. This is a
good example of persistent political action.
Great
web site by Nels Ackerson's law firm; lots of articlesand law
cases about rails to trail and fiber optic land use issues.
click
here
A
trail in Idaho is granted a class action status in a suit for
compensationagainst the federal government for a rails to trails
taking
here
Over
$5.1 million of our federal gas tax to rebuild a broken down depot
Click
here
for
an
article about $5.1 million federal gas tax going to rehab an old
railroad depot. Click on on the left side bar.Then arrow down to
links. Then arrow down to Vol. 3 No. 1. The article is onpage 1.
You will need Adobe Reader to read this file.
How
an Ohio property owner group got title to their land.
and
see
how
persistence against a strong government rail to trails takings
project can be defeated.
Law
Review article on rails to trails counter arguments
This
is a very good law review article and can be seen by here
Click
on “Past Issues”, then click on Volume VIII Number
III-Spring 1999The official citation is: Emily Drumm, Addressing
the Flaws of the Rails-to-Trails Act, 8 KAN. J.L.PUB.POL'Y 158
(1999). The publication is available in most law school libraries
and on WestLaw and Lexis.
A
story on how road money is diverted for trails
For
a copy of the Government Accounting Office (GAO) report on Rails
To Trails click here
An
article by trail proponent attorney>
where
it shows there really are reversionary owners to railroad rights of
way. click here.
PRO
TRAIL ARGUMENTS
Click
here,
then look around this site.It is nice to know how the rail trail
proponents bend the truth so you can counter their arguments.
An
article from the Traverse City Michigan Record-Eagle
about
toxic waste contamination on trails in Michigan and other places
click
here for
the article.
An
article from the Wichita Eagle about how the trails crowd
is
helping eliminate existing rail lines, click here
An
article on how the rails to trails scam works on taxpayers dollars
Click here
TRAIL
CRIME STATISTICS
The
following media articles may have a dormant URL attached, but all the
articles are available from NARPO in their Crime Article Booklet.
7/10/04
A grisly two weeks of mayhem on America’s bike trails.
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
6/26/04
a slow two weeks on trail crime.
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
6/10/04
Crimes on trails from the week of May 25 to June10.
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click(parents
will love to see their kids see this one) here,
and
click here.
5/22/04
Crimes along trails for the week of May 15.
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
5/10/04
More railtrail crimes for the week
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
here,
5/3/04
12 more rail trail crimes for the week
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here,
4/19/04
More of the ever increasing trail murders and violent crime
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
here,
4/10/04
The weekly crime scene on trails
click
here,
href=
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
and
here,
4/1/04
A few weeks crime scene on trails
click
here,
click
here,
click
here,
here
and
here
3/20/04
Some current rail trail crime stories
click
here,
click
here,
and
click here
12/9/03
Some trail vandalism and crime stories from the past few weeks.
click
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
and
here
11/14/03
Below are some trail horror stories culled from the last few weeks
media.
click
here.
here.
here.
here.
here.
here.
here.
click
here.
and
here.
10/14/03
A weekly trail of crime on rails trails
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
and
here
10/6/03
Some links to the weekly collection of gruesome trail crimes;
click
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
and
here.
May
10, 2003 Five crime stories on rail trail in last 10 days.
These
five stories are in MS Word. See here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here.
or
try this URL if the last file won’t load on MS Word
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2003/05/01/news/porter_county/ab7c32831ab01af186256d19001615a7.prt
4/15/03Another
non-injury but serious, senseless crime
on
a rail trail in Mass. Click here.
September
6, 2002 China bans bikes from major cities. See here
Another
senseless, heinous crime on a bike trail.
Two
nuns were attacked and one was killed by a transient going through
the area. You can see the article here
or
at: here.
9/19/03
After reading this trail crime article, why would you ever want your
kid to be near a trail.
click
here.
Trails
seem like a natural place for perverts to congregate. Check out this
trail
crime
and
see how police seem to think trail crimes are low priority. Women are
easy prey for the rapists on bike trails as this
article
will
show.
9/9/03
Selected rail trail crimes for the week
click
here
and
here
and
here
8/30/03
Selected rail trail crimes for the week
click
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here.
8/24/03
The latest on why not to use trails
and
reasons not to have trails in your neighborhood. Click here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
8/17/03
More trail crimes
As
more trails are built, us citizens have less chance to be safe. Click
here
and
here
and
here
and
here.
8/12/03
Stories about another murderous week on our nations’ rail
trails
click
here
and
here
and
here
8/2/2003—Just
a few of the trail murders, rapes, gropes, exposures, etc., for the
week. Aren’t trails great!!!
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here
7/22/2003—This
6/30/03 article is the fourth crime report on this trail in a short
period of time.
But
the local Anchorage, Alaska police still think it is safe to use the
trail. I wonder how many rapes and assaults it take to warrant a
safety concern? See the article
here
7/19/2003—The
latest in bike trail rampage
click
here
and
here
and
here
7/13/2003
Another week of trail mayhem
See
here
and
here
and
here
and
here
7/1/03/2003
Bike trails are sure dangerous and deadly.
See
this weeks’ crimes here
and
here
and
here.
6/28/2003
Another child molester on a Kansas trail, see article
here
6/18/2003
The below 8 hot links are articles in the past week about murders,
rapes and thefts on rail trails throughout the county.
Seems
to be typical of trails in general. See below here
here
here
here
here
here
here
here
Another
female assaulted on rail trail in Bloomington, Indiana, see article
here
9/16/2002-PedNet:
Trail Attack Reward Notice here
9/16/2002-Vandals
strike Yough River Trail's Dickerson Run area here
6/16/2002-
KATY
Trail Assault
See
KMIZ.com archives for this 6/16/02 story.
4/16/2002
Another attempted rape on the Spokane, Washington trail
click
here
An
April 2002 report on rail trail crime in Boise, Idaho here
This
is an e-mail NARPO got on Feb. 20, 2002 about many trails incidents
between trail users and landowners. Click here
Here
is a series of articles from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb., 24
and 25, about the problems on trails with ATVs. here
A
recent bike trail crime incident, Dec. 11,2001, in Arlington, Mass.,
with one very lucky lady coming through it unscathed
See
the here
Police
Seek Leads in Assault of Teen on Interurban Trail
From
the August 29, 2001 Seattle Times
Mountlake
Terrace, Washington-August 29, 2001. (a north suburb of
Seattle)Police are looking for leads in the sexual assault of a
13-year-old Edmonds girlwho was attacked Saturday while walking
on the Interurban Trail (old railroad right of way.
Authoritieshave not ruled out the possibility that the attacker
was the sameman who raped a woman in roughly the same spot
several weeks ago. Police said the girl in Saturday's attack was
walking south on the trail when a man came up behind her and
clasped a hand over her mouth. He dragged her into the woods and
started to put his hand in her pants but then she said she was
not the person, she told police, and he ordered her to run.
The
31-year-old woman in the earlier attack was grabbed around
midnight.Hours later, the police arrested a man who matched her
description of the attacker. He is now out on bail and has not
yet been charged
Subject:
Letter to the editor-Indianapolis Star
Police
seek suspects of 4 Carmel burglaries Dear editor, Let the
Monon burglaries begin! Upon checking the addresses of the 4
recentCarmel burglaries, I discovered that all 4 businesses are
near the MononTrail. News reports of freshman soccer coach
Richard Doucette's sexualconduct with a 15-year-old boy neglected
to say that the incident occurredin a plaza along the trail. The
trail is a magnet for all kinds of activity, healthy or not. My
neighbors predicted that crime would increase along theMonon and
it has. Tom Harleman11080 Willowmere Dr. Indianapolis, IN
46280317-844-2884 Home317-843-9122 Home Office
this
week on the Monon Trail Channel 6 News wonders, we wonder, how
much crime goes on around the Monon. The Indianapolis Police
Department gave us some numbers. Now, since no one keeps exact
numbers about crimes committed on the Monon Trail, theclosest
they could give us is crimes committed within a quarter mile of
thetrail. And here's what we found out. Police tell us that
during the first fivemonths of this year, first five months,
between Fall Creek and 6800 North,there was a lot of crime around
that popular trail. Police count 143 cases ofwhat they consider
property theft, 120 assaults, 57 burglaries, 46 stolen cars,18
robberies, 4 rapes, and 2 homicides.
Another
recent trail crime link. here
Another
violent crime on a rail trail. Click on this URL for theSpokane,
Washington Spokesman Review article about the crime. The
policerecommend you not walk alone. Sounds like a great place to
recreate. here
This
article shows a Massachusetts YMCA does not want a rail trail next
to it because of the problems caused by these trails. here
Another
senseless crime on a bike trail around Seattle, Washington
Would
this stabber have done this on a city street? No way; too many people
around. Trails are a magnet for the criminal and pervert element.
Trail
crime in Indianapolis on the Monon Trail click here
This
media article is in MS Word format.
News
story about crime on a Spokane, Washington trail click
here.
This media article is in MS Word format
Two
news stories about a killing in Seattle next to the Burke-Gilman
Trail
Where
the police are searching the trail for the killer—Seattle Times
11/04/99
Another
murder on a trail
A
murder on the Centennial Trail east of Spokane, Washington on April
28, 2000
An
article from the Traverse City Michigan Record-Eagle about toxic
waste contamination on trails in Michigan and other places.
click
here
CLASS
ACTION LAWSUIT INFORMATION
U.S.
Court Of Federal Claims Rules Compensation Due Abutting Property
Owners
here
Nationwide
class action lawsuit on Rails To Trails compensation for landowners
click
here for
a news article aboutthe latest class action lawsuit for
compensation against the UnitedStates for rails-to-trails
projects. This class action lawsuit is forall landowners in the
United States who have compensation claims for thetaking of
reversionary rights in rails-to-trails projects. Because thisclass
action lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court, all
claimsagainst the government have to be for $10,000 or less. If
you have hadreversionary rights taken which you believe amount to
more than a$10,000 claim, then you will have to file a separate
claim in the U. S.Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.,
for your just compensation.
GREAT
NEWS FOR PROPERTY OWNERS NATIONWIDE
On
May 12, 1999, AT&T has settled a class action lawsuit by Indiana
property owners. Depending on the number of miles of abandoned
railroad right of way AT&T has laid their fiber optic lines
in Indiana, will determinethe final cost figure to AT&T, but
the final numbers will be in the many millions of dollars to the
property owners. AT&T was sued because they had laidtheir
fiber optic cables in railroad rights of way; these rights of way
belonged to the abutting property owners not the railroad who had
charged AT&T over $25,000 per mile to lay the fiber optic
lines in the rights of way. The settlement abandoned railroad
rights of way. The settlement was for $45,000 per mile. Today's
settlement only affects Indiana property owners who own land next to
abandoned railroad rights of way. There will be another class
action lawsuit filedor property owners in Indiana who own land
next to operating railroad rightsof way which have fiber optic
cables laid in the right of way. There also have been class
action lawsuits filed in most other states to accomplish the same
thingfor other property owners which will involve many
multi-million dollar settlements to property owners throughout
the United States. Stay tuned for more news on this issue.
Today's
court settlement will be a blow to rails to trails groups as they
have beenactive in selling these fiber optic companies rights to
lay fiber optic cables in abandonedrailroad rights of way the
trails groups have turned into trails pursuant to the federal rails
totrails act, 16 U.S.C. 1247(d). Court suits will be filed
against any governmentagency or private group that have involved
themselves in selling any rights torails to trails type of rights
of way. Hopefully, there will be some governmentagencies and
private trails groups that will possibly go broke trying to
paycompensation to the affected property owners. Some of these
private trailsgroups are funded by wealthy trust-fund babies so
we will go after their wealthto pay the property owners. If
you have MS Word you can download the press release at herethis
URL.The attorney is Nels Ackerson and can be reached at
202-833-8833
ONGOING
ISSUES and TECHNICAL PAPERS
Letter
to Kansas city council on pending property owner bill.The letter
shows with graphs and text how trails are very costly without any
economic benefitto the community or the state. Click here.
An
article by Wayne Hage about the modern origins of the
environmentalmovement and how it affects our property rights.
Click here.
The info about CARA is not current as CARAdid not pass the
Congress yet.
Article
from the L.A. Daily Journal, 2/4/00, about compensation
for
abutting property owners of rails to trails projects. You will need a
reader that reads .tif files. Click '>here
and
here
Delaware-New
Jersey Farm Bureau here
NEBRASKA
FARM BUREAU Press Release fromNovember 8, 1998 concerning rails
to trails. The press release is in MS Wordformat so open the file
in MS Word or use a converter if you use other wordprocessors.
Click here
COURT
CASES on RAILS To TRAILS ISSUES
Indiana
property owners win a very important courtdecision against the
Penn Central Railroad on February 4, 1999. An Indianajudge
awarded over $600,000 in legal fee sanctions against Penn Central
fordelaying a class action lawsuit filed against Penn Central by
Indiana propertyowners. Sanctions are approved when a judge
thinks attorneys are not playingthe legal game fairly. This is a
huge blow to Penn Central and their actions todefend against very
well represented property owners. Nels Ackerson ofWashington,
D.C., (202) 833-8833, is representing the property owners in
thisclass action lawsuit.
January
1999--In a Michigan case on reversionary rights, the U.S. Court of
Appealsfor the Sixth Circuit ruled in the property owners favor
in a case called RLTD v. STB. Click here.
The Sixth Circuitsaid the STB was right by not claiming
jurisdiction for a rail line that was out of service for over 20
years;thus the STB could not order a rails to trails action on
the line.
December
30, 1997, decision by the U.S. Court ofAppeals for the D.C.
Circuit ruled in a Kansas landowner's favor today on arail to
trails issue, BECKER v. STB. The Court ruled that the
SurfaceTransportation Board (old ICC) had no jurisdiction to
issue an extension for arails to trails permit because the
railroad had already abandoned the rail lineby pulling up the
rails and ties. Once a rail line is abandoned, the STB
losesjurisdiction to do any regulating on the rail line. This is
a great win forproperty owners and property rights. The STB has
extended trails use agreementas much as eight times over a period
of 5 years while the abutting propertyowners are left in limbo
about their property rights in the rail line. Becker v. STB -
newspaper article here
An
Indiana Supreme Court decision on reversionary rights. The Indiana
Supreme Court on June 10, 1997, said that reversionary property
owners to railroad rights of way are the ones to benefit from
fiber optic and other utilities placed in the right of way, not the
railroad or some trailsgroup. The law in Indiana is much the same
in all other states so this case should be used when property
owners any place want to recover the rental fees the railroad and
trails group are getting for leasing fiber optic and other
utilities in the railroad right of way. Contact NARPO orDave Ford
at the Indiana Farm Bureau at 317-692-7802 for further information.
The attorneyrepresenting the Indiana property owners is Nels
Ackerson at 202-833-8833.
Article
by Mike Berger about the latest decision --click
here for
the Berger article Mike Berger was Preseault's attorney in the 1990
Supreme Court decision.
COURT
CASE ON REVERSIONARY RIGHTS hereBelka
v. Penn Central case no. 93-2457 6th Circuit on 1/10/96. This
case was decided on legal doctrine of impossibility. The
reversionaryproperty owners sued for their land back on a rails
to trails case where the abandoning railroad sold off some of the
right of way for other uses and then sold the remainder to the
state of Michigan for a rails to trailsproject. The court ruled
the sales of some parts of the right of way made it "impossible"
to remake the right of way back into a railroad right of way in
the future. Consequently, the Michigan rails to trails law could
notfunction because of the "impossibility of turning the
right of way back to a railroad as the Michigan law mandates must
be done for the law to work.
CONGRESSIONAL
TESTIMONY ON RAILS TO TRAILS ISSUES
NARPO's
testimony before the U.S. House Transportation Committee on rails to
trailsProblems click
here
NARPO's
testimony before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on March 4,
1997 here
NARPO's
testimony before the Rail Subcommittee of the U.S.
HouseTransportation Committee on Sept. 18, 1996 here'
Other
Rails to Trails Articles
An
article on WHY and HOW To affect an election, unelect bad officials
and elect property rights oriented people-click here
Louisiana
Property owners fight a trail. To see how to defeat a trail and
unelect bad politicians at the same time, click
here.
Article
by Congressional Research Service (CRS) on the whys and wherefores
of the property rights movement here
for CRS article.
A
trail in Bellevue, Washington which is 1/4 mile long is costing the
U.S. taxpayers $640,000 which is being funded through
ISTEA(ISTEA is your federal gas tax if you don't know what ISTEA
is). Contact NARPOfor a copy of the article on this trail.
Whoever said trails were cheap recreation?
An
article about what to do with rails to trails problems click here
A
book review on a great book about Free Enterprise andthe bad
effects of government regulation --Ultimate Resources II--click here
An
article about the problems with government interventionand how to
debunk naysayers of small government-click here
An
article on a trail in Indiana that cost $89,000 permile to build
click
here
An
article about the $89,000 per mile trail being defeated by the
concerted efforts of the property owners and taxpayers of LaPorte
County, Indiana. click-click
here
A
good article on the Fifth Amendment here
OTHER
INTERNET LINKS
A
property owner's site in Ohio which is opposing a railtrail
through their property. here
The
web site for Mountain State Legal Foundation and acopy of their
article about the court win in the Missouri property owner
classaction lawsuit for compensation for reversionary property
owners click here
A
site produced by property owners in Hurley, Wisconsinthat are
fighting a rails to trails project. They also have very
recalcitrantlocal officials trying to condemn their land for a
snowmobile trail todifferent taverns; some of which are owned by
local officials. RAPTOR fights landseizure tyranny being promoted
through socialist government.Ayn Rand and Objectivism form the
foundation for RAPTOR'S fight. click click
here
A
great property rights site for seeing what ishappening on the
Congressional, national and state scene in property rights. The
American Land Rights Association has a huge data base of members who
getfax updates on current Congressional issues. Also 100 direct
links to otherproperty rights sites. here
Texas
Justice Foundation, a non-profit, public interestlitigation
foundation for limited government, property rights and
freecompetitive markets here
Liberty
Matters--one of the newer organizationsfocusing on property
rights here
Another
Property rights site Here
A
great link--The American Association of Small Property Owners here
A
link to U.S. Supreme Court, Federal Circuit Court, and State courts
here
To
see another Property Rights Web site click herewith
links to 100s of other property rights sites.
To
see a paper on rails-to-trails problems click click
here
The
Right of Way Association Home Page click
here
A
nice article, Land Rights, Why Do They Matter?, by Bruce Yandle click
here
Property
Rights'Radicals'by Wayne Hage, a Nevada rancher click here
Due
to ongoing virus problems, NARPO will not open any e-mail unless the
subject line contains any of the following words: rail trail, trails,
or property rights. You can leave me a message by e-mail at mailto:
dick156@earthlink.net
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