Where is the AT on private land?

[Earl Grey]

I read on wikipedia that a few miles of the trail is on private land. Where is this at?

[Bloodroot]

I read on wikipedia that a few miles of the trail is on private land. Where is this at?

I believe more than a 'few' miles of it is on private land....check this out for a brief history

http://www.landrights.org/OCS/SocioC...nholders_1.htm

[weary]

I believe more than a 'few' miles of it is on private land....check this out for a brief history

http://www.landrights.org/OCS/SocioC...nholders_1.htm

IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT ABOUT 20 miles remain to be acquired. Bloodroot's reference, is kind of old and is not an objective look at the process.

I'm sure that there have been inequities in the long process. But I've met some of the key players. All strike me as honest, fair and intelligent people trying to do a complicated job as best they can.

Weary

[MOWGLI]

In 2000 the trail crossed farmland in Virginia that was privately owned. Signs asked hikers not to camp within that corridor.

[VictoriaM]

It briefly crosses a private cow pasture in Vernon, NJ.

[Old Hillwalker]

Parts of the AT corridor that I monitor here in NH are private property. The AT corridor runs through scenic easements. Whenever I do my annual corridor check, and the requisite corridor boundry line clearing I must notify the landowners when I will be doing the work. This volunteer activity is incredibly enjoyable. Bushwhacking all day long. Last spring I spent five days running the boundary and finding all 150 buried AT monuments.

[Jack Tarlin]

Likewise, I believe there are some areas of Pennsylvania that are still on private property; this is one of the reasons there's nowhere legal to camp for quite a ways after Boiling Springs.

[TJ aka Teej]

Last spring I spent five days running the boundary and finding all 150 buried AT monuments.

Thanks for your volunteering, Hillwalker! Where's your section?

[Old Hillwalker]

Thanks for your volunteering, Hillwalker! Where's your section?

Between Three Mile Road and Moose Mtn Shelter, NH

Part of the boundary goes up over a steep cliffy hillside with really strong bear smell. Fun scrambling or "putting hand to rock" as the Brits say.

[Tin Man]

Between Three Mile Road and Moose Mtn Shelter, NH

Part of the boundary goes up over a steep cliffy hillside with really strong bear smell. Fun scrambling or "putting hand to rock" as the Brits say.

Wow! We will be going through that section the first week of October. Can't wait to smell the bear. Thanks for all your time and hard work maintaining the trail.

[saimyoji]

Likewise, I believe there are some areas of Pennsylvania that are still on private property; this is one of the reasons there's nowhere legal to camp for quite a ways after Boiling Springs.

While this is true its amazing how many developed camp spots there are. We're talking prepped, flattened out tent sites with fire rings and often times there is wood already set up there for you. I was blown away by the number of these types of spots from Wind Gap to Water Gap. There were several nice 'stealth' sites from Windsor up to the Pinnacle once you reach the ridge line. Mostly for hammockers though.

[Nean]

I believe there is a lttle section just north of Allen Gap in N.C. that is on private land.

[rickb]

Don't forget the acre around Madison Springs Hut. That is on private land.

[Newb]

I can't be sure, but there is a private "hiker register" in a front yard on the south side of I-70 in Maryland that looks like it might be private property. The trail cuts through a couple of yards there.

[Sly]

IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT ABOUT 20 miles remain to be acquired. Bloodroot's reference, is kind of old and is not an objective look at the process.

Weary

Yeah, the last reference is from 1983.

[the goat]

aren't those cornfields in mass. on private land too?...where the trail is b/t a cornfield & the housitonic river?

[Almost There]

I believe part of the trail in Central Virginia as you come out of the forest near the abandoned house before getting to Catawba goes through private pasture land. Also I know the trail still goes through private land just north(3-5 miles north) of the Troutdale/Daleville interchange in C. Va. due to signs that are posted.

[weary]

Yeah, the last reference is from 1983.

Pam Underhill, who directs the AT for the National Park Service, will be speaking at the Maine Mountain Conference to be held Oct. 20 and 21 at the Saddleback Ski Area.

I'll try to get a chance to ask her the status of the acquistions. We shouldn't assume that all the corn fields and pasture land along the trail is privately owned. If I remember rightly, some land was purchased and then leased back to farmers to preserve the traditional uses in farming country.

The conference will provide a great opportunity to learn about the Maine trail, the plants and wildlife, other Maine Mountains, and the people who live nearby. Pam Underhill will attend a Friday dinner and participate in the all day discussion on Saturday.

The Saturday fee -- $35 -- includes lunch. Condos are available for rent at SaddlebaCK. Or lodging is available in Rangeley, or at nearby hostels. I'm staying at the Cabin in East Andover, which is an hour away.

Open www.matc.org to register.

Weary

[Cosmo]

Goat--
The corn and farm fields in the Housatonic Valley (and also some in Cheshire) in Mass are on NPS lands. The local farmer works them under a special use agreement (SUP) with the National Park Service. For a modest fee, he is required to use "generally accepted good agricultural practice" to keep the land in production. We also have some SUP's in the Tryingham area, one of which is for maple syrup gathering.

We like to keep the "historical" landscape intact (i.e not letting it revert to forest) to provide some relief from the "green tunnel".

Acquisition of the land was mostly by willing sellers in the 1980's. There were some (as in the Cumberland Valley) who were not so willing. There are still some unhappy neighbors. If Trail corridor acquisition were to begin in this day and age, I can't imagine how difficult and expensive it would be. All in all in the 1980's, NPS spent about $12million for corridor lands in Mass.

More than you wanted to know, no doubt.

Cosmo

[weary]

Goat--
The corn and farm fields in the Housatonic Valley (and also some in Cheshire) in Mass are on NPS lands. The local farmer works them under a special use agreement (SUP) with the National Park Service. For a modest fee, he is required to use "generally accepted good agricultural practice" to keep the land in production. We also have some SUP's in the Tryingham area, one of which is for maple syrup gathering.

We like to keep the "historical" landscape intact (i.e not letting it revert to forest) to provide some relief from the "green tunnel".

Acquisition of the land was mostly by willing sellers in the 1980's. There were some (as in the Cumberland Valley) who were not so willing. There are still some unhappy neighbors. If Trail corridor acquisition were to begin in this day and age, I can't imagine how difficult and expensive it would be. All in all in the 1980's, NPS spent about $12million for corridor lands in Mass.

More than you wanted to know, no doubt.

Cosmo

The eminent domain debate is mostly nonsense based on a lack of historical knowledge.

Regardless. eminent domain is a common function of all governments. This week, for instance, the state took a half acre of our town land trust land. The land encompasses several hundred feet of salt water, tidal frontage. The state thought the half acre was worth $2,800 WE reluctantly cashed the check. No property rights advocate seemed to even notice, right alone protest.

Weary