Trail advocates urge study of compensating private landowners as Legislature considers House 147

Nick Bennett, chair of the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council and executive director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, told a Vermont House committee that private landowners host almost three-quarters of the state's public access trails and urged lawmakers to back a bill creating a study of whether and how to recognize that contribution.

"Private landowners host almost 3 quarters of public access trails," Bennett said, describing the scale of private ownership and the volunteer stewardship network that sustains trails across the state.

The bill Bennett described, House 147, "is an act relating to establishing the Recreational Trails Compensation Study Committee," and would direct a multi-stakeholder committee to analyze the economic value private landowners provide, assess landowner costs and liabilities, study how other states recognize access, and model program options and price tags for possible recognition, Bennett said.

Why it matters: Vermont counts roughly 8,000 miles of public access trails, and outdoor recreation contributed about 4.8% of state gross domestic product in the most recent estimate Bennett cited. Committee testimony emphasized that most trail maintenance is done by nonprofits and volunteers, that stewardship groups log "hundreds of thousands" of volunteer hours, and that growing visitor numbers and climate-driven damage have created backlogs and funding shortfalls.

Bennett told the committee that reliance on private land creates a specific vulnerability: when landowners choose to close access, connectivity and entire trail systems can be lost. "We've seen it—Kingdom Trails has had issues ... land owners deciding ... to say, you know what, I've had enough," he said, stressing that stewardship organizations currently have "no tools really beyond that" to secure long-term access.

Testimony from trail builders reinforced the maintenance and workforce pressures. Tom LePessier and James Patterson, who run a Vermont trail-building operation, described a labor-intensive sector that handles both new construction and routine repairs to make trails resilient to heavy rain and other climate impacts. "We're the labor intensive piece in the field, building the infrastructure," Patterson said, summarizing the hands-on work his team performs on state, federal and private land.

Speakers urged more consistent funding, workforce training and economic-impact data. Brian Lamoreaux, outdoor careers business development manager with the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance, said his organization assists workforce training for trail builders, bike mechanics and ski technicians so the state can meet rising market demand.

Details of House 147 presented to the committee include: a proposed study committee populated by state tax and natural-resources officials, representatives of the Trails and Greenways Council, the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (as referenced in testimony), conservation and landowner representatives, trail design experts and municipal officials; a requested appropriation for consulting support; and direction to issue findings and legislative recommendations in a report by the end of next year. Bennett said the study would explicitly examine whether existing programs—he cited the "current use program"—are a suitable model for trails or whether alternative approaches are needed because trails are not strictly area-based.

No formal vote on the bill was recorded during the hearing. Witnesses asked lawmakers to consider the proposal as a step toward securing existing access, incentivizing landowner participation and building the workforce and funding capacity to maintain a trail network that contributors told the panel supports local economies and public health.

The committee heard additional evidence and images from builders about recent projects, including adaptive-bike trails and connectivity projects in national- and state-forest areas, and requests for better regional economic breakdowns of recreation impacts. Witnesses said top priorities are reducing deferred maintenance, creating stable funding for stewardship organizations, and developing programs that recognize landowner contributions without creating untenable liabilities for the owners.