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Sponsor calls bill to create footpaths an environmental‑justice measure to restore public water access
Summary
House Bill 7,351 would authorize the Department of Environmental Management to acquire and establish footpaths by eminent domain for public access to streams, rivers and ponds and permit community groups to maintain them. Sponsor said commercial fencing has blocked longstanding community trails.
Representative McNamara told the committee that House Bill 7,351 would allow the Department of Environmental Management to acquire and establish footpaths to provide public access to streams, rivers, lakes and ponds and allow local groups to help maintain those paths. The sponsor framed the measure as an environmental‑justice response to examples in which trail access — particularly along the Patuxent River in the sponsor’s district — has been blocked by private fencing.
McNamara said many of the pathways had historically been maintained by scouts and community groups and that preventing access has harmed whole communities’ ability to enjoy nearby natural resources. He asked the committee to consider the health and recreational benefits of restoring access and suggested the bill could build on earlier state efforts to protect bay public access.
The committee recorded a witness from the Rhode Island Farm Bureau who indicated opposition on behalf of farmers but no in‑person testimony opposing the bill was presented during the hearing. The committee held the bill for further study.
