Legal Issues

George S. Mickelson Trail at the Deadwood Trailhead | Photo courtesy South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks

A Milestone for the Mickelson Trail: Celebrating 25 Years

Posted 09/13/23 by Cindy Barks in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Legal Issues, Local Organizing, South Dakota, Trail Communities

The 109-mile George S. Mickelson Trail, named after the South Dakota governor who championed the trail before dying in a plane crash in 1993, was officially dedicated in the midst of much fanfare in 1998.

Andrea Ferster | Photo by Eli Griffen

Rail-Trail Cases That Have Shaped the Movement

Posted 02/20/20 by Amy Kapp in Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Corridors and Railbanking, Featured Magazine Articles, Legal Issues, RTC in Action

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the National Trails System Act (1968), Rails to Trails magazine sat down with Ferster to talk about some of the cases that have shaped the movement—as well as the monumental importance of railbanking, which—born from the National Trails System Act in 1983—has helped facilitate the creation of thousands of miles of rail-trails to date.

Baltimore, Maryland | Photo by Side A Photography

Protecting Trails in 2018: Five Ways We Mobilized in Communities This Year

Posted 11/15/18 by Amy Kapp, Brandi Horton in America's Trails, Building Trails, Policy, Taking Action, Success Stories, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Best Of, Case Studies, Community Events, Corridors and Railbanking, Demand for Trails, Equity, Federal, Funding, Health and Active Living, IHTC, Legal Issues, Local Organizing, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rock Island, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, State and Federal Programs, Success Stories, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Transportation Alternatives, Transportation and Health, Urban Pathways, Walkability and Bikeability, Washington, Wisconsin

All across the country—from the great redwoods of California, to the trestles of Missouri, to the stream valleys and neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland—Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and the national trail community put itself on the front lines to protect and defend trails in 2018. Here are five ways we mobilized in communities this year.

East Lake Sammamish Trail in King County, Washington | Photo by Barbara Richey, courtesy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Rails-to-Trails Legal Team Protects Two Trail Corridors in Washington State

Posted 08/21/18 by Eli Griffen in Taking Action, Policy | Tagged with Legal Issues, RTC in Action, Threats to Trail Building, Washington

Last year, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s (RTC’s) legal team became actively involved in two cases—Hornish Joint Living Trust, et al. v. King County, and Kaseburg et al. v. King County, et al., involving attacks on railbanked rail-trails in King County. On Aug. 3, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of King County in both of these cases, rejecting attempts by adjacent landowners to limit the rights of trail managers to use the full width of the right of way. The Ninth Circuit ruling was a decisive victory that sets an important precedent for trail groups in the United States.

Trail Geek Terminology (A Cheat-Sheet to Satisfy Your Inner Wonk)

Posted 01/29/18 by Amy Kapp in Policy, Building Trails | Tagged with Corridors and Railbanking, Design Strategies, Facts and FIgures, Federal, Government Agencies, History Happened Here, Legal Issues, Mode Shift, Recreational Trails Program, TrailsTransform, Transportation Alternatives, Walkability and Bikeability

RTC's put together this little trail-geek cheat sheet so that we can all bone up on our trail and active-transportation policy speak.

Great Shasta Rail Trail | Photo by Christina Schmidlin with Hellikon, courtesy Great Shasta Rail Trail Association

A View From … The National Trails System

Posted 01/03/18 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Best Of, California, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Ecology and Environment, Encouraging Trail Use, Federal, History Happened Here, Legal Issues, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Success Stories, Tourism , Trail Destinations, Trails of the World, Virginia, Walkability and Bikeability, Washington, Wild and Wonderful, Wisconsin

In 2018, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, which provided an incredible legacy for all Americans. Five of these iconic American experiences are listed below along with rail-trails that weave in and around them.

Photo © Mark Fischer

What the Marvin M. Brandt Case Means for America’s Rail-Trails

Posted 03/17/14 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Policy | Tagged with Federal, Legal Issues, Threats to Trail Building, Wyoming

On March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust et al. v. United States. The issue in this case was whether the federal government retains an interest in railroad rights-of-way that were created by the federal General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875, after the cessation of railroad activity on the corridor.