Respecting the rights of property owners

The Bangor Trails Project envisions a citywide trail system allowing access for all to Bangor’s public natural areas. Bangor Land Trust and Keep Bangor Beautiful are partnering to lead this project, and we need the full cooperation of the community in order to realize our vision.

We have a public commitment to work only with willing landowners. This is because we rely on the good will of landowners to achieve our goals. Without the generosity of landowners willing to gift or sell to us land or easements, we are going nowhere.

In November 2005, Bangor took an important step forward with the establishment of the Penjajawoc Marsh-Bangor Mall Management Commission, a body that includes landowners as well as developers, environmentalists and representatives from Bangor Land Trust. Our mandate includes developing recommendations for an overall management plan designed to preserve habitat and environmental values, permit public access and use, and respect the rights of property owners.

For the first time, representatives of all stakeholder groups are working together to create positive solutions to a variety of land use conflicts in that area. Unfortunately, it looks as though a piece of publicity for the Bangor Trails Project may have created a wrong impression.

On March 16 and 24 the Bangor Daily News published articles on Bangor Trails and a map that included the former Veazie Railroad bed. Landowners have complained to us about an influx of trespassers along the former railroad bed soon after the articles appeared. Apparently some outdoor enthusiasts erroneously assumed that because the old railroad bed was depicted in the BDN, the full length of the bed was open to the public. In fact, much of that former railroad bed is private property and not open to the public.

When the Bangor and Piscataquis Canal and Railroad Co. constructed the rail bed in the mid-1800s, it made a variety of different arrangements with the owners of the property it crossed. Sometimes it acquired full fee ownership of the right of way and sometimes it simply obtained an easement from landowners.

When the last railroad owner of the bed, Maine Central, ceded title in the 1990s (more than a century after the last trains ran), the lengths of rail bed they had owned in fee became the property of the municipalities of Bangor or Orono, and open to the public. Where the railroad held only an easement, all ownership interest reverted back to the owners of the abutting property. To complicate things further, many of the original deeds were lost, (or may never have existed), and deciphering the language and maps of old land transactions is a challenge.

Unfortunately, some people think the railroad bed is open to all for the entire length of it from Essex Woods to Veazie. Nothing could be further from the truth. Trespass and general lack of consideration by even a few members of the public is likely to lead, very understandably, to frustration and ill will on the part of the landowners in question. The ill-considered behavior of a few can result in further limiting or eliminating access for us all.

The bottom line: If you love to explore the out-of-doors and want public access, please respect property owners’ rights.

(1) Stay off land that is posted. Do not park in private driveways.

(2) Stay on established trails where land is not posted; do not cut any new trails without landowner permission.

(3) Ask landowner permission before altering the landscape in any way – such as by digging or creating structures.

(4) Leave no trace – carry out all your trash.

Thanks to the generosity of private landowners, Bangor Land Trust is also a landowner. We manage our lands for public benefit, we have a policy of community consultation in drawing up our management plans, and we plan to allow public access, so long as it does not degrade the environment and wildlife habitat.

Please join us in respecting the privacy and property rights of private landowners.

Lucy G. Quimby is president of the Bangor Land Trust.