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RAILROAD GRADE "QUESTIONS OF TITLE" - REALLY? Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. --Frederic Bastiat See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. --Frederic Bastiat
FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY SEIZURE EXPERIMENT The WDNR, working through the Bayfield County board of supervisors, has been attempting to perfect a plan of large-scale land grabs of privately owned, already reverted railroad grade through private properties throughout the state for snowmobile trail creation. This trail system is being created at the expense of thousands of landowners, without either due process or just compensation to them, through a sleight of hand called 43 U.S.C. § 912 - 16 U.S.C. § 1248(c), and outright Working Adverse Possession Former Attorney General James Doyle declared snowmobile trails to be highways, and the Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance and County Board are already attempting highway style Working Adverse Possession of Trail 63. It is land theft of the most massive and abusive kind. It is dividing and severing land and homeowners from thousands of acres of their own properties -- and in some cases -- from their own homes. |
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It is a sin to be silent when it is your duty to protest. -- Abraham Lincoln With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but with tyrants, I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost. -- William Lloyd Garrison
WARNING TO BAYFIELD COUNTY WI PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS: The purpose of this letter is to try to save other Abandoned Railroad Right of Way landowners from being caught off guard. Before purchasing our property, we were assured by lawyers, Title Insurance, the Register of Deeds in Bayfield County and a second Title and Abstract Company that the abandoned railroad right of way which runs through our land belonged to us. We were aware of the grade being used as a snowmobile trail, but we never dreamed it would cause so many problems. I was born and raised here. I moved away for several years, and my husband and I decided that this is where we wanted to live. After two winters here, we were sure that the snowmobile trail was so out of control that something had to be done. My driveway is a raceway for snowmobiles, motorcycles and ATV's year round, I have watched as snowmobiles swerve to hit my pets, I walk out of my house to see that my driveway is a public restroom, on still winter days I can't stand to be outside because the air is so thick with exhaust, the noise these machines make is so loud by the time they reach my house going speeds that make the speed limit on highways seem like a crawl is unbearable and it is routine to pick up the beer cans, oil containers and garbage that these people are nice enough to leave for me. Hunters use the grade as well, in all vehicles. Strangers with guns, and all this goes on less than 60 feet from my home. I have been confronted on my driveway while walking down to get my mail. Those who do these things truly believe that they have every right to go where they want, when they want regardless of who the property belongs to. My driveway is not a part of the grade, the grade crosses it so it's convenient for many to use it as a shortcut. Those of you who are living on abandoned railroad grades have all these things to look forward to. Please don't let anyone or any organization tell you that these Trails, will not cause you problems. Your property values will be affected and most likely, your life will change. There will be costly lawsuits, sleepless nights and many headaches. When all of this started, our goal was to get the trail rerouted away from our home. It was never our intention to close the trail. We started by talking to the Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance here, only to find out after a year that the County claimed ownership. At one point, they worked out a proposal to move the trail, and they even had an estimate for the cost. We thought it was going to be moved, that it was a done deal - - but then the Snowmobile Alliance and County discovered 43 U.S.C. 912 and decided to turn us into a test case. I have written letters to Rep. Dave Obey, last November. I just got an answer a few weeks ago. His response was Sorry - there is no legislation in Congress at this time that will help you. I realize that one person is not enough to move mountains, but there are so many of you affected by this, if you all wrote to him action would have to be taken. At this point there are no government agencies that are willing to help us. The lawsuit against us by Bayfield County has been through Circuit Court, where the Court ruled in the County's favor. It is now in Federal Court. The cost for all this has been very high, financially and emotionally. It's time to stop this madness, and get involved. Let's put an end to this illegal land grabbing! Judy Mauler |
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LANDOWNERS BARRICADE THEIR PROPERTY
43 USC §912 is being attempted against the odd numbered sections of land on this former railroad grade. Adverse Possession is being attempted against both the even and odd numbered sections on land on this former railroad grade. The State of Wisconsin Department of Justice and Bayfield County board of supervisors - WDNR have recently declared snowmobile trails to be Highways. An immediate result of this newfound highway condition is the Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance, County Board and the WDNR have declared Adverse Possession Working and Common Law Dedication of the entire reverted grade in order to seize, for free, all private property that it crosses. [See Documentation section below. The next steps will be large-scale gas-tax funding and highway style Condemnation of private property in Bayfield County (and elsewhere) for snowmobile trails.] Ashland Daily Press 11/1/01: "Attorney for the county Richard Nordeng said the county believes the grade is theirs, it's a public highway. And yes, if forced the county can argue that in essence there is an adverse possession claim." [See 11/1/01 article below.] Aware of these adverse possession threats, savy private property owners along this entire grade have united together and barricaded the grade shut in multiple locations in order to stop the threats to their property ownership. The Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance has been dispatching its members to trespass onto private property and attempt to tear down the barricades.
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