MTGA Trails Toolkit

Attached is the River Voices newsletter, volume 16, Number 2 from 2006. Published by the River Network, this particular newsletter contains many valuable articles on water trails.

Anyone who reads a newspaper or listens to the evening news is familiar with the dangers of land contaminated by hazardous materials. Cleanup costs can be very high; the property may be unsafe for public use; and the problem may expose the landowner to liability, regardless of who caused the contamination.

Trails are being built in urban, suburban, and rural areas. They are being built on former rail corridors as well as in vast public lands. People use trails for: walking, jogging, biking, in-line skating, skiing; even equestrians, snowmobilers and people in wheelchairs use them. With all these uses in a variety ofsettings come a host of concerns about liability issues.

This report concludes that trail-related liability is primarily a management issue. Laws are in place to protect all parties from unwarranted lawsuits and the rest is up to proper design, maintenance and management.