Committee hears proposal to clarify municipal authority for trail maintenance

Senators on the Government Operations Committee discussed a proposed bill that would clarify who is responsible for maintaining public trails and would give municipalities explicit authority to carry out or delegate maintenance.

A senator asked co-sponsors whether she could present the bill to her town select board; co-sponsors encouraged local input. One sponsor explained the problem by reference to a recent Tonbridge dispute: “What was not there is who's maintaining trails ... it is as we found in Tonbridge. It is not clear in statute. So what we are trying to do is clarify it in statute.”

Why it matters: in Vermont many public trails run across privately owned land under easements, and maintenance responsibilities are often unclear. Sponsors said the bill would grant towns authority — not an automatic responsibility — and allow delegation to organizations or volunteer chapters (an example cited was the Appalachian/Long Trail, where maintenance is often delegated to trail chapters and volunteers).

Details discussed: senators and sponsors described the bill as granting towns authority to maintain trails and to delegate maintenance; it would not compel towns to take over every trail. The discussion mentioned that easements typically allow public travel but do not specify who must maintain the right-of-way, and that statutory clarity could prevent disputes such as landowners refusing maintenance access.

Ending: Senators asked to collect local feedback; one senator said she would present the draft bill at her next select-board meeting so municipal officials could review and provide input before the committee advances the language.