New England Rail-Trail Leader Alex Bernhard Passes Away at 89
In June of 2026, Alex Bernhard, a dedicated champion for trails in New England, passed away at age 89. He is remembered by family, colleagues and friends as a man who had a “profound sense of community”—tirelessly supporting trail development both as a committed legal professional and volunteer advocate until his last days. His contributions have had a significant impact on the trail movement at the regional and national levels, and he will be greatly missed.
Bernhard graduated from MIT in 1957 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an officer, where he discovered his life-long passion for the law. After earning a degree from Harvard Law School and completing several professional assignments—including a clerkship for a judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit—he built a successful career in corporate law at Hale and Dorr in Boston. He had three sons of whom he was immensely proud.
A bicyclist, Bernhard would go on to apply his expertise to the advancement and stewardship of trails in New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Myra Mayman, purchased a 190-acre former dairy farm in 1990. His leadership would eventually help result in what is now one of New Hampshire’s best-known recreational assets, as well as the protection of vital trail projects in the state.
“Alex Bernhard was a true champion of rail-trails in New Hampshire,” said Don Moyer, president of Friends of the Northern Rail Trail. “Few people have shaped a public resource the way Alex did.”
“He was a terrific person to partner with as part of our legal advocacy in New England. He had a keen and critical legal mind,” said Andrea Ferster, Rails to Trails Conservancy’s general counsel, who began collaborating with Bernhard in the early 1990s. “I wish there was an Alex Bernhard in every state who was the kind of advocate for trails and rail-trails that he was.”
“I wish there was an Alex Bernhard in every state who was the kind of advocate for trails and rail-trails that he was.”
—Andrea Ferster, Rails to Trails Conservancy
From Visionary Idea to Beloved State Asset
Mayman, Bernhard’s wife of 39 years and a fellow passionate trail advocate, said his great affinity for trails stemmed in part from his love for railroads—“He was a rail nut,” she affirmed—and the influence of his father, a Dutch water transportation engineer who came to America at the turn of the 20th century.
“He always kind of grew up with transportation and movement,” said Mayman.
Inspired by a bike trip taken together in the 1990s on a rail-trail between Saint-Jérôme and Montréal, Canada, Bernhard approached Mayman in the summer of 2004 about transforming an old rail bed at the bottom of their hill in East Andover, New Hampshire, into a trail. They brought a group of people together and organized—eventually establishing the nonprofit Friends of the Northern Rail Trail, whose efforts would culminate 25 years later in the completion of a 59-mile regional asset. Today, the Northern Rail Trail connects through two counties between Lebanon and Boscawen and is the longest rail-trail conversion in the state.
The people whose energy and work made the rail-trail possible is a highlight of the effort, said Mayman—and one of the things she and her husband were most proud of—emphasizing “the effective board that has lasted since we’ve both stepped down” and that is carrying on the group’s 30-year legacy. “Alex thought that was a key accomplishment,” added Mayman.
Bernhard was also very passionate about history, which he infused into his work and inspired in his colleagues. “Of all the lessons Alex passed on, the one most important to me was his devotion to preserving the history of the Northern Railroad,” said Moyer. “He understood that the trail was not only a recreational treasure but also a living record of New Hampshire’s past.”
Tom Sexton, who served as RTC’s Northeast regional director for 33 years until his retirement in 2025, observed the friend’s group as being a powerful force for trail advocacy in New Hampshire and an effective leader in what can be a challenging trail-development environment in terms of state resources. “They really showed what can be done,” he affirmed.
Mayman attributes her husband’s tenacity in part to his successes, fondly pointing out his relentless nature. “He always felt that if you talk to people, you can usually come to some resolution.”
Protecting a Safe Route in New Hampshire
Following the former route of the Boston and Maine Railroad, the 3.6-mile Derry Rail Trail is a short but vital connector in Rockingham County that will make up a portion of the 125-mile Granite State Rail Trail that crosses New Hampshire from the Massachusetts border to the Vermont state line. The Derry Rail Trail is also a segment of the developing New England Rail-Trail Network, an RTC TrailNation™ project to connect 1,000 miles of trails across six states.
In 2020, after the New Hampshire Department of Transportation reversed an approved tunnel plan that would have led the trail beneath a six-lane I-93 exit ramp—proposing instead a “spaghetti loop” stretching across a busy highway and encroaching on a historically protected corridor—Bernhard and New Hampshire trail advocates mobilized. Along with RTC, they began a protracted legal battle, forming the Committee to Save the Derry Rail Trail Tunnel in 2024 and securing the pro bono services of Bernhard’s former firm, WilmerHale. In 2025, the group celebrated a victory in U.S. District Court, with the judge ruling that the new design violated federal historic preservation protections.
Bernhard’s colleagues credit him with the strategy that proved fundamental to the victory. “He was able to use a lot of helpful legal tools as part of his advocacy arsenal,” Ferster stated. “He understood Section 4F [of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966] and the strong protection that it provided to, in this case, a historic railroad corridor.”
Remembering Alex Bernhard
Today, people remember Bernhard’s commitment to the legal process in defending trails and his unwavering attention to detail—both of which have accelerated trail development and brought projects like the Northern Rail Trail to fruition. They also remember Bernhard the person, who had such an impact as a friend, mentor and collaborator.
“I was always impressed by how Alex, who was clearly the smartest person in the group, would defer and listen to others while guiding the group in the right direction,” said Robert Spiegelman, a trail advocate who worked with Bernhard on the Derry Rail Trail tunnel issue and established a warm friendship with him. “He made everyone feel valued and lifted them up.”
“He was terrific to work with,” said Ferster. “He was always gracious and courteous, but right on target.”
“Alex was a mentor in the truest sense—steady, thoughtful and always ready with a solution,” said Moyer. “He set high expectations, but he paired them with encouragement, humor and an unwavering belief in what the [Northern Rail Trail] could become.”
He continued, “The Northern Rail Trail stands as a tribute to his leadership, his passion and his remarkable ability to turn vision into reality. He inspired passion in everyone who worked alongside him.”
In honor of Alex Bernhard’s legacy, donations may be sent to Friends of the Northern Rail Trail.
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