The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that towns have the authority to maintain legal trails in Vermont, including where they cross private property.
Legal trails are former public roads that aren’t used for traffic any longer, but are often used for walking and other recreation.
The decision impacts some 500 miles of public trails in towns across Vermont, and is the culmination of a roughly seven-year legal battle between the town of Tunbridge and two resident landowners, John Echeverria and Carin Pratt.
The court ruled that Tunbridge has the authority to maintain and repair two public trails that run through Echeverria and Pratt’s hill farm.
The dispute started after bicyclists asked the town for permission to ride on the trails, which Echeverria and Pratt opposed. According to court documents, the landowners responded by allowing the trails to become overgrown.
More: In Tunbridge, a legal battle over public trails could restrict access across Vermont
The town subsequently created a process whereby private citizens can apply for permission to maintain trails on the town’s behalf, and the landowners filed a lawsuit.
A judge initially dismissed the case because no one had been granted permission to maintain the trails. The landowners appealed all the way to the Vermont Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that town trails are public rights-of-way, which gives towns authority to maintain them and preserve public access.
Echeverria, a professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School, expressed his disappointment at the decision Friday, saying the court acted on politics rather than statute.
“We think, under Vermont law, the landowners clearly had the authority to decide whether and how to maintain and repair the legal trails,” Echeverria said. “And as any landowner, we want to be able to exercise the rights associated with property ownership, and that’s been stripped from us.”
However, he said it’s good news for all parties involved that the legal dispute has been resolved.
More: Most of Vermont's public trails are on private land. Is that sustainable?
Nick Bennette, president of the Vermont Mountain Biking Association, applauded the decision.
“These legal trails are, I think, vital assets for all kinds of recreators,” he said, noting that skiers, snowmobilers, cyclists and hikers use them to travel between towns and avoid car traffic.
Last year Vermont lawmakers passed a law that explicitly codifies the right of towns to maintain legal trails. It goes into effect on April 1.
