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Lindsay Brinton and Meghan Largent, attorneys from Lewis Rice’s Federal Takings & Rails to Trails Practice Group, recently won $1,060,493.07 in compensation for eight landowners in Dutchess and Putnam counties in New York. These landowners brought claims against the federal government for the taking of their property for a 41.1-mile recreational hiking and biking trail that crosses over their land.

The landowners’ property ran along the abandoned Metro-North railway section that stretches from the Beacon waterfront to the Connecticut border. It was seized February 8, 2024, pursuant to the National Trails System Act, which authorizes abandoned railroad lines to be converted to public parks. Lindsay and Meghan filed a claim for compensation on behalf of the landowners the next day on February 9.

“This is just the first group of landowners to be paid for this taking,” Lindsay said. “There are hundreds of others in Dutchess and Putnam counties who still have the right to file a claim for the just compensation the federal government owes them. We’d be pleased to help ensure that they also receive what they are entitled to.”

Lindsay and Meghan have represented more than 1,000 landowners nationwide in similar cases. They recently secured $52 million for a landowner in Greensboro, North Carolina, which is believed to be the largest award ever issued to someone affected by a rails to trails conversion.