News Service June 19, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Government to Pay Landowners for "Trail Taking"

CONTACT: Nels Ackerson or Cecilia Fex
The Ackerson Group, Chartered
1666 K Street, NW, Suite 1010
Washington, DC 20006-1217 (202) 833-8833

The Ackerson Group Chartered Washington, DC

Washington, DC, May 23, 2001 - A federal judge ruled this week that the
government must pay a couple in Burlington, Vermont,
$234,000 plus fifteen years worth of interest for a strip of land less
than 500 feet long that was taken to form part of the Burlington
Bicycle Trail.

According to attorneys for the landowners, this is the first ever damage
award against the United States for property converted from
rails to trails. The portion of the trail at issue is less than one
tenth of a mile long and crosses land bordering Lake Champlain that
includes the home of Paul and Patricia Preseault. Besides being the
first case of its kind, the attorneys said the size of the award
for the limited scope of the taking makes this a landmark case.

The trail on this land has spawned courtroom battles between the federal
government and the Preseaults for nearly two decades. In
an earlier decision involving the Preseaults, the United States Supreme
Court held that the federal "rails-to-trails" legislation does
not violate the Constitution, but may require compensation to be paid to
landowners under the Fifth Amendment. The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit later determined that Mr. and Mrs.
Preseault owned land that was taken for the Burlington Trail and
they must be paid.

Nels Ackerson, the Preseaults' lead attorney, explained that the
decision will benefit other landowners across the nation who have
similar claims. "This is a benchmark decision," he said. "The largest
part of the damages occurred because the trail limited access
and reduced the ability to enjoy, use, or develop the rest of the
Preseaults' land. The same type of severance damage has been
suffered by many other landowners across the country. Farmers, ranchers,
and commercial landowners, as well as homeowners
now have a precedent to be compensated by the federal government in the
same way if a trail has taken part of their property."

The Preseaults are represented by The Ackerson Group, a Washington law
firm that represents hundreds of landowners in "takings"
claims against the United States. The attorneys explained that Federal
Judge Christine Miller's order requires the federal
government to pay interest from 1986, which may more than double the
court's award. In addition, the order permits Mr. and Mrs.
Preseault to apply for recovery of their attorneys fees and expenses.

Cecilia Fex, one of the other plaintiffs' attorneys, added, "No
financial award can ever fully compensate Paul and Patricia Preseault
for the personal losses they have sustained through years of disputes
and litigation. But their persistence has added to the body of
Fifth Amendment takings law that will benefit others who have had their
property taken by the government without compensation."

Under the court's order the easement for public use is limited to an
eight-foot paved bicycle path plus two-foot shoulders. The federal
government had originally sought between 80 and 150 feet, which
Burlington claimed to have obtained under a lease from the
railroad. At trial, the government asserted that at least 50 feet of
unrestricted use was necessary to accommodate more bicycle,
pedestrian and roller blade traffic, in addition to maintenance. The
City will have access to as much as fifty feet beside the trail, but
only for the purpose of access for maintenance, according to the order.

Paul Preseault said, "My wife and I are pleased that this stage of the
litigation has come to an end. The government took only a
narrow easement, and we now have an order that it cannot enlarge the
amount it took beyond what the City paved for a trail in
1986."

He continued, "No amount of money can make up for the invasion of our
privacy by a paved and heavily-trafficked bicycle and
roller-blade path next to our front door, and nothing can compensate for
the years it took to get to this result. But I am glad the
government will finally be paying with interest."

The Ackerson Group represents landowners in claims for land that has
been taken without permission or compensation for uses
including trails, fiber optic cable installations, and other utility
uses. The Washington-based law firm and its affiliated counsel
throughout the country have filed more than forty class action lawsuits
as well as numerous individual lawsuits covering claims
against the United States, major telecommunications companies, railroads
and others in the 48 contiguous states. Five such class
actions seeking compensation for "rails-to-trails" takings have been
certified against the federal government. Marsha Meekins of
Roesler, Whittlesley, Meekins & Amidon, in Burlington, Vermont, assisted
with the trial in Preseault v. United States.