Time travelers: Origins of the Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail
By Rhonda Dedyne
The official opening of the Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail brought back memories for me and other area residents who recall the birth-pains of the multi-decade process that resulted in the cyclists and walkers enjoying the new trail extending from Owosso to Ionia.
It was not an easy delivery.
This is the last in a series of articles dealing with the abandonment of the old Grand Trunk railroad line through Clinton County, and the potential for future use of the rail corridor as a Rails to Trails project. This was originally published in a six-part series that appeared in 1995 in the Indy and the St. Johns Reminder. All stories are reprinted verbatim. That’s important for readers to note since each article contains quotes from individuals at that time – not today.
Part V: Background and goals of rail-trail organizations – The view of proponents
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
While there are thousands of local rail-trail groups which have been formed across the country to assist in the development of specific projects, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy more often than not is a key player in the total process.
Formed in 1985, RTC is a national non-profit public charity with a membership base of more than 60,000 individuals and families, as well as 50,000 donors. The organization is based in Washington, D.C., and has six chapter offices across the country, including the Michigan Chapter of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Lansing.
The RTC mission statement is simple and straightforward:
“The mission of the Rails-to-Trail Conservancy is to enhance America’s communities and countrysides by converting thousands of miles of abandoned rail corridors, and connecting open space, into a nationwide network of public trails.”
Judging by the most recent statistics available from May of this year, RTC has been very successful in fulfilling that mission in its 10 short years of existence:
– A total of 684 open rail-trails in the United States
– Total length of open trails, 6,811.5 miles
– An additional 650 rail-trail projects currently in progress in all 50 states
– 9,034 users per trail-mile per year
Rail-trail use by an estimated 85 million Americans in 1993
The day-to-day operation of the RTC program involves seven basic elements: technical assistance, public education, advocacy, negotiation, corridor preservation, regulatory action, and corridor assessments.
Each of these elements comes into play during the lengthy development process of a rail-trail. RTC uses its membership base – along with its public and private sector connections in the fields of recreation, transportation, and conservation – to work through the process.
Quite often, RTC is active even before a project actually begins by notifying trail advocates and local governments about upcoming railroad abandonments. After the line has been declared as abandoned by the ICC, the organization helps private and public agencies work through the legalities that are part of the rail acquisition process.
Once a rail-trail project has been officially approved and funding for development has been secured, RTC can provide technical assistance to private citizen groups along with trail planners and managers on trail design, development, and protection.
Finally, RTC takes a lead role in publicizing rails-to-trails issues across the country, serving as a strong advocate for rail-trails at the state and federal level.
The RTC vision is as clear as its mission:
“Imagine a vast network of trails across the nation connecting our city centers to the countryside and countless communities to each other – linking neighborhoods to workplaces and congested areas to open spaces – serving both transportation needs and the demand for close-to-home recreation.”
As a non-profit public charity, RTC is supported entirely by its membership. Membership levels include: regular, $18; supporting, $25; patron, $50; benefactor, $100; advocate, $500; or Trailblazer Society, $1,000.
For information on the RTC, write to :1400 Sixteenth St., N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C., 20036; telephone, (202) 797-5400; fax, (202) 797-54511.
Michigan Chapter of RTC
The Michigan Chapter of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was formed in 1988. Its premise is the same as the national organization, and it serves many of the same functions.
There are approximately 4,000 members.
The state chapter is one of the most successful in the nation, and has helped put Michigan first in rail-trail conversions. Michigan’s 88 open trails, totaling 1,025 open miles, is the most in the United States. Additional work in progress on the open trail sites will bring the total mileage to 1,092.8 when current projects are completed.
Conceptual trails – which are abandoned corridors where the possibility for the development of a rail-trail exists – would more than double that mileage, if all “conceptual” projects reach completion.
The old Grand Trunk line – Ionia to Owosso corridor – is considered to be a conceptual trail. It would be part of the total Discover Michigan Trail network which includes rail-trails across Michigan, and would link the two peninsulas of the state.
For specific information on the Michigan Chapter of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, write to: 913 W. Holmes, Suite 145, Lansing, Mich., 48910; telephone, (517) 393-6022; fax, (517) 393-1960.
Annual individual membership dues are $18, or $25 for a family.
Rams Horn Trail Blazers
While there are numerous supporters of rail-trail projects scattered across the mid-Michigan area, the Rams Horn Trail Blazers group probably has the most local ties. It is the only formally organized group in the St. Johns area at the present time.
Formed in 1993 during the struggle to create a rail-trail along the abandoned line from Bath to Owosso, the group takes its name from the shape that the rail-trail would have taken – a ram’s horn.
“We have about 40 families who are members of the group,” says Rams Horn Trail Blazers President Ed Carpenter. “About a half-dozen individuals were actively involved and worked extensively on the Bath-to-Owosso project.”
The Victor Township resident became a member of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy “about seven or eight years ago,” he recalls.
“I got some literature about the national organization from a friend who was a member, and decided it was something I’d like to be a part of.”
After Carpenter attended a meeting in Owosso related to the development of the rail-trail project at that end of the Bath-to-Owosso line, he and other rail-tail advocates started the Rams Horn Trail Blazers.
Carpenter and other organization members gathered petitions in support of the project, and provided information to area residents about RTC and its mission.
“We collected a lot of signatures on petitions, and had coordinated more than 20 local service groups and individuals who were ready to adopt a mile of trail if it had ever been developed,” Carpenter says. “But, the opposition outdid us – they were extremely organized.”
Despite the outcome of the Bath-to-Owosso line, Carpenter and the Rams Horn group remain active in the RTC national organization.
And they’re also still firm believers in the benefits of rail-trail projects.
“There are so many positive aspects to a trail,” Carpenter says. “A lot of people who have fears about a trail, let those fears become facts.
“Everyone who thinks rail-trails are negative for a community should go to the Hart-Montague Trail – there would never be an argument against trails again.
“For the long-term future, it’s a national tragedy to lose a rail corridor. Once that property is gone, it’s gone forever.”
Part VI: Rail-trail opponents – opinions and purposes.
Michigan Taxpayers Against Rails to Trails
Less than three years ago, Val Vail-Shirey had no idea that by the end of 1995 she would be president of a state-wide organization dedicated to providing information and education related to property rights on potential rail-trail projects.
That’s the unlikely position the Bath area woman finds herself in today as a result of her involvement with the Concerned Citizens Opposed to Rails-to-Trails group that formed in 1993 in opposition to a proposed rail-trail on the abandoned rail corridor from Bath to Owosso.
“When our situation was occurring, people started contacting us who were going through the same process, or had been already been through it,” Vail-Shirey says. “A number of us got together in April of 1993 and formed Michigan Taxpayers Against Rails-to-Trails.”
At least 12 separate rail-trail opposition groups continue to function independently across Michigan, but many individuals are also part of the state-wide organization. Vail-Shirey estimates that between 800 and 1,000 persons are involved with Michigan Taxpayers Against Rails-to-Trails – with that number “growing all the time.”
The Michigan group is connected nationally with other rail-trail opponents, although there are no membership dues or structured payment schedules.
“We’re all volunteers and operate strictly on donations – we’re a non-profit organization,” the president says.
Like its counterparts across the country, the Michigan group sees itself as an information and education organization.
“We basically share information on all aspects of rail-trail issues, from pending and current legislation and information from government agencies, to educating people about the Rails-to-Trails process,” Vail-Shirey says.
While she initially began working in opposition to the formation of the Bath to Owosso line because her parents owned more than a one-half mile stretch of property on both sides of the abandoned corridor, Vail-Shirey is quick to point out that many members of the state-wide organization have no vested interest in the rail-trail projects.
“Two of our three board members are not adjacent property owners, and four of the seven individuals who helped form the original Concerned Citizens group did not own adjacent property,” she says.
What they all do have in common is a firm belief that the individual rights of property owners are being abused when Rails-to-Trails projects are developed.
“The land was never theirs (the railroad’s) to begin with,” Vail-Shirey says, backing up the opinion with an abundance of documentation ranging from old land deeds to easement and lease agreements. “We feel that the land in question was supposed to be used for the benefit of developing railroads – now, the railroads are gone.
“We’re not opposed to recreation trails, but we are opposed to powerful groups taking rights away from a minority. We feel that is wrong.”
The organization believes there are other more viable alternatives for recreational trail construction.
“We already have a tremendous amount of state and federal land that can be developed,” Vail-Shirey says. “To me it’s sad that we have this abundance of state land and national forest where we could create beautiful trails, instead of 10-foot wide flat paths through productive farmland.”
As an example of how trail projects could be developed, Vail-Shirey points to nearby Sleepy Hollow State Park where some trails for horseback riding are being proposed.
“We’ve got all that land setting right here – let’s promote that better,” she says.
Alliance for Michigan
The state-wide organization, “Alliance for Michigan,” is an off-shoot of Michigan Taxpayers Against Rails-to-Trails. Vail-Shirey helped form the group during the summer of 1994 in response to concerns about property rights issues other than rail-trail projects.
“M-TART was so successful that other people contacted us about other property rights problems,” Vail-Shirey says, noting that the current membership numbers 2,800 to 3,000.
“The intent was to develop a state-wide umbrella organization that could not only educate and inform people about all kinds of property rights issues, but promote those issues and work on the legislative level.”
Although a majority of individuals connected to the Alliance are involved in the rail-trail opposition movement, the organization also provides help on a wide range of property rights issues including utility easements, wetlands, endangered species, and lake access.
“There are a lot of people whose rights are being mowed over,” Vail-Shirey says. “They’re not sure how to approach issues, or how to deal with the government.”
For information on the organization, write to: Alliance for Michigan, P.O. Box 283, Bath, Mich., 48808.
Defenders of Property Rights
Even though there is no, formal national organization at the present time that works solely in opposition to the development of Rails-to-Trails projects in the United States, Defenders of Property Rights has helped with the legal representation in numerous cases across the country.
Based in Washington D.C., the membership organization bills itself as “the nation’s only legal defense foundation dedicated exclusively to the protection of property rights.”
A press release by the group states that “Since 1991, Defenders of Property Rights has been leading the fight to protect America’s constitutional liberties by filing lawsuits designed to require government to obey the Constitution.”
The organization is made up of property owners and users across the United States.
For information call or write: Defenders of Property Rights, 6235 33rd St. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20015; telephone: 202-686-4197; fax: 202-686-0240.
Grand Trunk/CMR time line
Following is a time line for the 41.3-mile abandoned railroad that lies between Owosso and Ionia.
1987: Central Michigan Railway purchases the line from Grand Trunk.
June 1990: CMR files a petition with the Interstate Commerce Commision to abandon the track between Owosso and Ionia.
August 1992: Rail service ends along the Owosso-Ionia corridor.
Sept. 16, 1994: ICC formally terminates the line.
1995: Rail tracks and ties are removed; discussion on rail-trail begins; anti-trail group, “Concerned Citizens for Property Rights” forms.
1996-97: Michigan Dept. of Transportation negotiates with CMR to purchase rail corridor.
1998: MDOT withdraws from CMR purchase talks.
1999: Re-activated Friends of Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail begin discussions/meetings on rail-trail development.
