Kansas landowners suing over federal Trails Act Trails and...

“It's been kind of frustrating, because if you have a four-wheeler or something, and you leave it parked there, you can get a ticket for it”

Two Kansas landowners have sued for compensation after the government took old railroad rights of way on their properties -- but unless Congress intervenes, only one is likely to get paid.

The aim was to turn the old tracks into recreational trails. But the cases illustrate how federal rails-to-trails programs can lead to decades of legal conflict.

The controversy over rail-trail conversions has been brewing since Congress passed the federal Trails Act 25 years ago. It allowed the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to give unused railroad lines back to states to use as recreational trails. But adjoining landowners began asking why that property wasn't returned to them. Read more