Recently, Representative Gerald Connolly from Virginia proposed HR 781 (Complete America’s Great Trails Act) to help find a way to complete 11 trails that have been “in the making” for nearly 50 years. Landowners would be enticed with tax incentives to provide easements along these trails.
The bill recognizes that land relations can be difficult, especially in securing or maintaining land over a long time. A recent incident on the Superior Trail in Michigan shows just how quickly a trail, even one that was “complete,” can lose the privately owned land through which the trail traverses. Preventing such incidents can often be achieved with hikers simply respecting these lands, the people who own them, and the people who use them. Sometimes, though, things just happen and it becomes necessary to ensure the owners feel recognized and rewarded for aiding public recreational opportunities.
Thus the bill helps ensure that trails become as permanent and complete as possible. That way, hikers won’t be forced into dangerous road hikes or wondering whether their maps are up-to-date to account for detours. Also, the bill acknowledges that the land is still privately owned but rewards the owners for their generosity in sharing their land with the public as hiking corridors.
The American Hiking Society asks that you see whether your representative is on the bill’s list of sponsors. If your representative isn’t on the list, you can e-mail his or her office to ask for co-sponsorship of this common-sense approach to land management and trail protection.
http://www.americanhiking.org/advocacy/complete-americas-great-trails-act/