Catherine Odson / catherineodson@miconews.comMembers of the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy finished the railing on this bridge in March. They have been developing the trail through the former railbed using volunteer labor and donated money and materials. Area landowners say there’s still a lot to be done, including erecting fences.
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Troubles on the Trail
The county took the issue to court, but landowners and the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy continue to struggle with the Flint Hills Nature Trail
By: Catherine Odson, catherineodson@miconews.com
It's not supposed to happen, but Leslie Belt knows it does.
ATVs rush into the woods at 1:30 a.m., past a sign banning motorized vehicles.
Some people, with boats in tow or carrying fishing poles, enter private property from the trail.
Belt, who lives next to the Osawatomie division of the Flint Hills Nature Trail, maintained by the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy, said she wants her family's privacy back.
“We have no peace,” she said.
Property owners like Belt and conservancy members have gone back and forth for the past two years, trying to determine the trail's boundaries and uses. The battle now runs through the Miami County Commission and its lawsuit with the conservancy, but trail volunteers and landowners say problems have yet to go away.
Unlike the now-absent railroad company, the conservancy has been difficult to work with, Belt said. Landowners turned to the Miami County commissioners to act as liaisons with the conservancy.
Belt toured the trail with Miami County commissioners in early 2006. She hasn't been out since.
Conservancy group members, led locally by Doug Walker, said they have had to face landowners, county officials and the Kansas Farm Bureau in trying to open the trail.
Miami County filed a lawsuit in 2006 against the group. A Miami County District Court judge ruled in February 2007 that the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy, the group working on the trail, must follow state law and pay a bond to the county. Kansas law allows counties to require a bond from such groups. The bond would cover weed and litter control, trail maintenance, fencing and signs.
The bond still has not been paid, and the lawsuit will continue in court next year.
The Kansas Farm Bureau praised the February ruling as a victory for landowners. County Commissioner George Pretz, who is on the bureau's board of directors, said the ruling ensured that the trail — and the area around it — would be kept safe for landowners and the public.
“Landowners don't want people wandering off the trail if they see an object that catches their interest,” he said.
Pretz said the trail would be “a wonderful thing,” but that it needed to be up to par. The conservancy would also have to meet bond requirements set by the county, per state statute.
“In no way do I want to stop the trail,” Pretz said. “I'm trying to help both parties so that it will be a safe trail that will be open to the public.”
Pretz was part of the county group that explored the trail with Belt. At the time, he said, the trail was still rough and had brush growing on it. A concrete bridge also concerned him; the conservancy added railings earlier this year.
The Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy maintains that part of the Flint Hills Nature Trail is open. Its second annual trail walk is scheduled for 8:30 Saturday morning, starting at an entrance on Pressonville Road. About 3.75 miles of the trail will be open. More than 30 people participated last year.
The Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy owns the right-of-way for 155 miles of trail, including 117 miles of the Flint Hills Nature Trail. Four and a half miles are in Miami County, stretching from Osawatomie to the Franklin County line.
The trail cuts the same path as the former Union Pacific Railroad line. Part of the 1996 National Trails System Act was designed to maintain rail beds, without any permanent structures, so that rail lines could use them again if needed. Because the land isn't abandoned, it does not revert to nearby landowners, according to the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
In January 1996, Serenata Farms took over the trail from the national conservancy. Serenata Farms held the property until 1997, when the Kansas Horseman Foundation stepped in. The group of trail enthusiasts that became the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy organized in 2002. The conservancy has cleared most of the trail in the past two years.
Belt said the conservancy had not responded to requests from adjacent landowners to add fences. She carries a copy of her fence estimate with her in hopes something will get done.
Right now, an electric fence separates the trail from her land; it's close to the trail, but because the trail hasn't been surveyed to determine the boundaries, it's not moving.
“We're not giving them another inch until we know where that 50-foot (line) is,” she said.
Landowners tried to talk with conservancy members early on, but ended up going to county commissioners for help.
The problem goes back to the 1990s, County Counselor David Heger said. The trail groups promised they would meet with the county before they started work; he said they didn't.
Conservancy volunteers started clearing the trail in late November 2005. They first met with county commissioners and local landowners in December. The initial bond proposal — $76,620 — came a few days later. The county filed a lawsuit early in January.
“They say all they want us to do is abide by the law, but what they're doing is they're using the law to the extreme to prevent the trail from going through,” Walker said.
The best example of that is Miami County's bond requirement, he said.
“The biggest bond we have is $3,000 in any other county,” Walker said. “And most of the counties, the trail goes all the way through. We only have four and a half miles.”
Heger said the county set a bond that it thought would cover the cost of the trail.
Pretz explained that the county had studied how much the things covered by the bond would cost. He didn't think other counties, which had substantially lower bonds, had studied the situation as well. Because negotiation didn't work, “it will be up to the judge,” he said.
“We're just handling it through the court system in the most civilized way we know how,” Pretz said.
Belt wants to see the bond paid to protect the landowners.
“Be an upstanding citizen,” she said about the conservancy.
Most of the problems could have been prevented, she said.
“If they would have communicated from the get-go, we wouldn't be having these problems,” she said.
Albert McKoon, another landowner, said the railroad had been a better neighbor, trains and all. His cattle got used to the trains, he said, but people, and their not-so-friendly jabs at the cattle, are a problem.
Walker said the conservancy is trying to meet goals set in the county's comprehensive plan at no cost to the county. The 2004 County Comprehensive Plan encourages “the use of easements across private property for trails and open spaces.” He doesn't understand why the trail, which is heavily wooded in some spots, causes problems for landowners.
“They never even see anyone on the trail,” Walker said. “It's not like it's disturbing them.”
Sheriff Frank Kelly said his department had been involved since the trail's beginning and has tried to work with both sides. The department can respond to criminal activity on the trail, but civil cases on the trail are no different than on any other private property.
Walker said the conservancy had done well in the past two years, but could have accomplished more if everything had gone smoothly. The conservancy hopes to finish the trail from just outside Osawatomie to Ottawa by the end of next year. It also has submitted a driveway application for a location closer to the Osawatomie city limits.
Having to drive to access the trail doesn't encourage use, he said.
Eventually, Walker would like to see the trail travel into Osawatomie, ending at the sports complex.
Trails have worked in other states. Iowa, he said, is a farm state that's grabbed the opportunity to create trails.
“They are compatible with rural America,” he said.
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ATVs rush into the woods at 1:30 a.m., past a sign banning motorized vehicles.
Some people, with boats in tow or carrying fishing poles, enter private property from the trail.
Belt, who lives next to the Osawatomie division of the Flint Hills Nature Trail, maintained by the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy, said she wants her family's privacy back.
“We have no peace,” she said.
Property owners like Belt and conservancy members have gone back and forth for the past two years, trying to determine the trail's boundaries and uses. The battle now runs through the Miami County Commission and its lawsuit with the conservancy, but trail volunteers and landowners say problems have yet to go away.
Unlike the now-absent railroad company, the conservancy has been difficult to work with, Belt said. Landowners turned to the Miami County commissioners to act as liaisons with the conservancy.
Belt toured the trail with Miami County commissioners in early 2006. She hasn't been out since.
Conservancy group members, led locally by Doug Walker, said they have had to face landowners, county officials and the Kansas Farm Bureau in trying to open the trail.
Miami County filed a lawsuit in 2006 against the group. A Miami County District Court judge ruled in February 2007 that the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy, the group working on the trail, must follow state law and pay a bond to the county. Kansas law allows counties to require a bond from such groups. The bond would cover weed and litter control, trail maintenance, fencing and signs.
The bond still has not been paid, and the lawsuit will continue in court next year.
The Kansas Farm Bureau praised the February ruling as a victory for landowners. County Commissioner George Pretz, who is on the bureau's board of directors, said the ruling ensured that the trail — and the area around it — would be kept safe for landowners and the public.
“Landowners don't want people wandering off the trail if they see an object that catches their interest,” he said.
Pretz said the trail would be “a wonderful thing,” but that it needed to be up to par. The conservancy would also have to meet bond requirements set by the county, per state statute.
“In no way do I want to stop the trail,” Pretz said. “I'm trying to help both parties so that it will be a safe trail that will be open to the public.”
Pretz was part of the county group that explored the trail with Belt. At the time, he said, the trail was still rough and had brush growing on it. A concrete bridge also concerned him; the conservancy added railings earlier this year.
The Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy maintains that part of the Flint Hills Nature Trail is open. Its second annual trail walk is scheduled for 8:30 Saturday morning, starting at an entrance on Pressonville Road. About 3.75 miles of the trail will be open. More than 30 people participated last year.
The Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy owns the right-of-way for 155 miles of trail, including 117 miles of the Flint Hills Nature Trail. Four and a half miles are in Miami County, stretching from Osawatomie to the Franklin County line.
The trail cuts the same path as the former Union Pacific Railroad line. Part of the 1996 National Trails System Act was designed to maintain rail beds, without any permanent structures, so that rail lines could use them again if needed. Because the land isn't abandoned, it does not revert to nearby landowners, according to the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
In January 1996, Serenata Farms took over the trail from the national conservancy. Serenata Farms held the property until 1997, when the Kansas Horseman Foundation stepped in. The group of trail enthusiasts that became the Kanza Rail Trail Conservancy organized in 2002. The conservancy has cleared most of the trail in the past two years.
Belt said the conservancy had not responded to requests from adjacent landowners to add fences. She carries a copy of her fence estimate with her in hopes something will get done.
Right now, an electric fence separates the trail from her land; it's close to the trail, but because the trail hasn't been surveyed to determine the boundaries, it's not moving.
“We're not giving them another inch until we know where that 50-foot (line) is,” she said.
Landowners tried to talk with conservancy members early on, but ended up going to county commissioners for help.
The problem goes back to the 1990s, County Counselor David Heger said. The trail groups promised they would meet with the county before they started work; he said they didn't.
Conservancy volunteers started clearing the trail in late November 2005. They first met with county commissioners and local landowners in December. The initial bond proposal — $76,620 — came a few days later. The county filed a lawsuit early in January.
“They say all they want us to do is abide by the law, but what they're doing is they're using the law to the extreme to prevent the trail from going through,” Walker said.
The best example of that is Miami County's bond requirement, he said.
“The biggest bond we have is $3,000 in any other county,” Walker said. “And most of the counties, the trail goes all the way through. We only have four and a half miles.”
Heger said the county set a bond that it thought would cover the cost of the trail.
Pretz explained that the county had studied how much the things covered by the bond would cost. He didn't think other counties, which had substantially lower bonds, had studied the situation as well. Because negotiation didn't work, “it will be up to the judge,” he said.
“We're just handling it through the court system in the most civilized way we know how,” Pretz said.
Belt wants to see the bond paid to protect the landowners.
“Be an upstanding citizen,” she said about the conservancy.
Most of the problems could have been prevented, she said.
“If they would have communicated from the get-go, we wouldn't be having these problems,” she said.
Albert McKoon, another landowner, said the railroad had been a better neighbor, trains and all. His cattle got used to the trains, he said, but people, and their not-so-friendly jabs at the cattle, are a problem.
Walker said the conservancy is trying to meet goals set in the county's comprehensive plan at no cost to the county. The 2004 County Comprehensive Plan encourages “the use of easements across private property for trails and open spaces.” He doesn't understand why the trail, which is heavily wooded in some spots, causes problems for landowners.
“They never even see anyone on the trail,” Walker said. “It's not like it's disturbing them.”
Sheriff Frank Kelly said his department had been involved since the trail's beginning and has tried to work with both sides. The department can respond to criminal activity on the trail, but civil cases on the trail are no different than on any other private property.
Walker said the conservancy had done well in the past two years, but could have accomplished more if everything had gone smoothly. The conservancy hopes to finish the trail from just outside Osawatomie to Ottawa by the end of next year. It also has submitted a driveway application for a location closer to the Osawatomie city limits.
Having to drive to access the trail doesn't encourage use, he said.
Eventually, Walker would like to see the trail travel into Osawatomie, ending at the sports complex.
Trails have worked in other states. Iowa, he said, is a farm state that's grabbed the opportunity to create trails.
“They are compatible with rural America,” he said.
Comments on "Troubles on the Trail"
Comments are limited to 200 words or less.Randy wrote on Oct 25, 2007 7:52 PM:
" I rode the open section of the trail from Pressonville Road to Virginia Road and back, and it's a wonderful resource. It appears to be well-maintained, and the scenery is outstanding, especially with the leaves starting to turn. The only problem I had was in finding a place to park at Pressonville Road - there's no places marked for vehicles to park.
Rather than attempting to obstruct the trail, Osawatomie and Miami County should be doing everything they can to encourage the completion of the trail. "