US v. 13.10 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY OF PUTNAM, 85 Civ. 2496 (CSH).

• Decision Date: 08 March 1990
• Docket Number: No. 85 Civ. 2496 (CSH).,85 Civ. 2496 (CSH).
• Citation: 737 F. Supp. 212
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. 13.10 ACRES OF LAND SITUATED IN the COUNTY OF PUTNAM, STATE OF NEW YORK; Christina Mattin; Tax Collector, Town of Putnam Valley; Unknown Heirs of Philip Philipse and Unknown Others, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

737 F. Supp. 212

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. 13.10 ACRES OF LAND SITUATED IN the COUNTY OF PUTNAM, STATE OF NEW YORK; Christina Mattin; Tax Collector, Town of Putnam Valley; Unknown Heirs of Philip Philipse and Unknown Others, Defendants.

No. 85 Civ. 2496 (CSH).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

March 8, 1990.

Bernard W. Bell, Asst. U.S. Atty., S.D. N.Y., New York City, for plaintiff.

James G. Glazebrook, Jacob, Medinger & Finnegan, New York City, for Christina Mattin.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HAIGHT, District Judge:

This case is now before the Court on defendant Mattin's motion for summary judgment and plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 56.

Background

Factual Background

This is a condemnation action by the United States to acquire 13.1 acres of land, which are part of a 95.8 acre parcel in Putnam County owned by Christina Mattin. The Mattin property is a wooded piece of land with a stream running through it. The United States seeks to obtain the Mattin land for inclusion as part of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail,¹ which it has moved from its original location to a new route which runs roughly parallel to the eastern border of Mattin's land. The new trail route does not cross Mattin's land. Rather, the United States seeks to annex the 13.1 acres for the purpose of creating a buffer zone between the actual trail and surrounding areas, which are subject to development to the extent they are privately owned.

The Appalachian trail was developed as a result of the combined efforts of various private hiking clubs, and state and federal agencies. In the late 1930's the trail's existence was more formally established through the signing of agreements by the Appalachian Trail Conference, a private, non-profit confederation of 31 trail clubs; each state through which the trail passed; the National Park Service ("Park Service") and the National Forest Service ("Forest Service").

Statutory Framework

The trail existed for several decades unregulated and unprotected until Congress passed the National Trails System Act ("Trails Act"), Pub.L. No. 90-543, 82 Stat. 919 (1968), codified as amended at 16 U.S.C. §§ 1241-1251. The Trails Act vests primary responsibility for administering and protecting the trail with the Secretary of the Interior (the "Secretary"). 16 U.S.C. § 1244(a)(1). The overall goal of the Trails Act is "to provide for the ever-increasing outdoor recreation needs of an expanding population ... in order to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nation." 16 U.S.C. § 1241(a). The Trails Act provides for the creation of three basic types of trails: national recreation trails, national scenic trails, and national historic trails. 16 U.S.C. § 1242. The Appalachian Trail is designated as a National Scenic Trail. 16 U.S.C. § 1244(a)(1).

16 U.S.C. § 1244(a)(1) provides that "insofar as practicable, the right-of-way for the Appalachian Trail shall comprise the trail depicted on the maps identified as `Nationwide System of Trails, Proposed Appalachian Trail, NST-AT-101-May 1967', which shall be on file and available for public inspection in the office of the Director of the National Park Service."² The trail right-of-way, or more simply the path of the trail, can be changed pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1246(b).³ Congress gave the Secretary the power to acquire lands "where the lands included in a national scenic or national historic trail right-of-way are outside of the exterior boundaries of federally administered areas", 16 U.S.C. § 1246(e), by voluntary sales, id.; other agreements, 16 U.S.C. § 1246(f); or condemnation, 16 U.S.C. § 1246(g). In the 1968 law, Congress limited the Secretary to acquiring 25 acres of land in any one mile of trail. Id.

The House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs held hearings in 1976, the "Oversight Hearings", 94th Cong., 2d Sess. (1976), which led to the amendment of the Trails Act. See National Trails Act Amendments of 1978, Pub.L. 95-248, 92 Stat. 159. The 1978 amendments included an increase in the amount of land the Secretary was authorized to acquire to 125 acres per mile of trail. 16 U.S.C. 1246(g). Moreover, Congress increased the budget for such acquisitions from $5,000,000 to $95,000,000. 16 U.S.C. § 1649(a)(1).

After the Oversight Hearings, the relevant committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate noted problems with the protection of the trail. The House Report said the following:

At the time of the enactment of the National Trails System Act in 1968, Congress recognized the unique recreational opportunities afforded by extended trails of this type. It was also recognized that changing land uses and increase in pressures for development were a growing threat to maintaining a continuous trail route. The act therefore provided for a Federal responsibility to protect the trail, including the authority to acquire a permanent right-of-way.

Since the passage of the original act, several steps have been taken to further protect the trail. The U.S. Forest Service has pursued a program of land acquisition to secure the trail route within the national forests. Several states have taken the initiative to acquire a corridor for the trail, frequently making use of matching grants from the land and water conservation fund.

Unfortunately, these measures alone have not been enough to protect the trial. Over 600 miles of the trail remain in private hands and changes in ownership and increasing pressures for development pose threats to the continuity of the trail in numerous instances. Almost 200 additional miles of the trail are now located along roads, providing no real hiking experience, but only a link between disconnected segments of the trail. Some of these miles of road designation are the result of the trail having been forced off of an area of land due to a change in use or ownership.

The Department of the Interior has recognized this increasing threat to the trail, and is preparing a detailed acquisition plan to carry out the mandate of the 1968 act to protect the trail. Experience with the trail has demonstrated, however, that additional authority is needed to insure the acquisition of a corridor wide enough to protect trail values, and an increase in the funding authorized for the trail will be required to purchase a sufficient route through the areas which are now unprotected.

H.R.Rep. No. 734, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 3-4 (1977) (emphasis added) ("House Report"). The report of the Senate echoes these concerns. S.Rep. No. 636, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 3-4 (1978) ("Senate Report"), U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 1978, pp. 456, 457, 458.

Pursuant to the 1978 amendments to the Trails Act, the Secretary and the Appalachian Trail Conference are required to submit yearly progress reports to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs regarding progress made in land acquisition. 16 U.S.C. § 1249(a)(2). Since that time the Secretary has submitted the required annual reports.

Discussion

Defendant Mattin moves for summary judgment on the first of her five affirmative defenses in this action, namely that there has been a "substantial relocation" of the trail absent an act of Congress as is required pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1246(b). Plaintiff cross-moves for summary judgment on that first affirmative defense and moves to dismiss each of Mattin's four other affirmative defenses. I address each in turn.

1. Substantial Relocation

Defendant Mattin contends that the rerouting of the trail in Putnam County is a substantial relocation requiring an act of Congress. It is common ground that there has been no congressional act on the subject of relocating the trail in Putnam County and if one is required under the Trails Act, the relocation is improper and condemnation of Mattin's land unauthorized. The question is one of statutory construction and therefore one for the Court. E.g., Stissi v. Interstate and Ocean Transp. Co., 765 F.2d 370, 374 (2d Cir.1985) ("when a decision turns on the meaning of words in a statute or regulation, the decision is one of law which must be made by the court") (citations omitted).

At this point, additional factual background is required. As of 1978, the time of the amendments to the Trails Act, the trail entered Putnam County as it crossed the Hudson River near the United States Military Academy at West Point. The trail ran through the county and into Clarence Fahnestock State Park from which it exited the county. As of 1978, there were approximately 10.75 miles of trail between the Hudson River and Fahnestock State Park, over 6.5 miles of which was located along roads.

At some unspecified point, the Park Service decided that it was necessary to move the trail in Putnam County and acquire certain surrounding lands in order to carry out the mandate of the Trails Act and the subsequent amendments in respect of protecting the trail. The original plan was to move the trail such that approximately 8.85 miles of trail would run through the county, less than a mile of which would be located along the road. In order to effectuate the plan, approximately 1,050 acres of land owned by fourteen landowners would be affected. Twenty-two of the twenty-five tracts of land necessary to accomplish the rerouting had been acquired by the Park Service as of 1984. In total, 693 acres had been acquired at a cost of $621,800 with the estimate being that another $61,700 would be required to protect the remaining acres.

In 1984, after the initial acquisitions toward the rerouting in Putnam County had been achieved, the Park Service conducted a "corridor review." The corridor review was done in order to evaluate the adequacy of the protection of the trail and to identify any encroachments upon it. The review...