Lawsuits over Great Redwood Trail accumulate

December 20, 2022 — The Great Redwood Trail has had a string of successes this year. The Surface Transportation Board, the federal entity that regulates railroads, has rebuffed efforts by local and out of state rail interests that wanted to use the line for its original purpose. Two months ago, the Board ruled that the Great Redwood Trail Agency will be allowed to railbank the track from Willits to Eureka, or build the trail directly on top of if by filling it in with dirt and aggregate. Senator Mike McGuire announced that the state is awash in funds for trail projects. He hopes neighboring landowners will benefit from the increased economic activity he expects from outdoor recreation, but lawsuits are proliferating. Almost three hundred landowners with property adjacent to the future trail in Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties are suing the federal government to compensate them for land they say was taken from them by the Surface Transportation Board’s order. They believe the trail will reduce the value of their property by using it for a purpose that has nothing to do with the original railroad easement — which they claim was terminated when the line was abandoned. Thor Hearne is a lawyer representing sixteen landowners in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. He’s taken rails to trails cases all over the country, in what has become a specialized area of jurisprudence.