[pct-l] Private landowners along the PCT and bikes

[Douglas Tow]

Good morning!

Perhaps I have missed posts in this regard, but I would like to inquire
about those portions of the PCT that cross private property.  To have
allowed use over their land, owners would have had to record an easement or
other agreement.  Would each of them not have to agree to amend their
easement to allow bicycles, if that was otherwise to be the rule?  For
these owners, the effects of bicycle use may well be one of economics:
Erosion potential, effect on livestock, watercourses, drainage, and other
factors would be the issues for them, not the effect on hikers and horses,
or the aesthetics of the trail.  If an owner believed that his or her
revenue would be at risk, or that the value of his or her property would be
degraded, that owner would, in most cases, not be amenable to any changes.

It was a hard-fought battle to unite the trail by convincing private
landowners of the benign nature of a foot and horse trail across their land.

Further, the trail crosses national parks, national wilderness areas, state
parks, forest service lands, etc.  Does each jurisdiction have its own
bureaucracies and rules that would effect whether or not bicycles would be
allowed, even if the PCTA supported it?

Doug