Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
Seven landowners in Bon Homme and Charles Mix counties will receive a total of nearly $128,000 from the federal government after the U.S. Court of Federal Claims found their land was taken without compensation to make way for a proposed hiking and biking trail.
The ruling stems from a claim for compensation filed under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, which requires just compensation when private property is taken for public use, a process known as eminent domain. Attorneys from the St. Louis firm Lewis Rice represented the landowners.
“If the government takes 10 feet or 10 acres, you should be rightly compensated,” said attorney Meghan Largent.
At issue is a 24-mile stretch of former railroad corridor between Tyndall and Ravinia in southeast South Dakota. On Aug. 18, 2023, the federal Surface Transportation Board issued a notice allowing the removal of the tracks and conversion of the corridor into a public trail. The stretch is part of a larger proposed rail-to-trail project, converting a 75-mile portion of the old Napa-to-Platte rail line to a trail from Tabor to Platte.
A spokesperson with the transportation board declined to comment.
Some sections of the rail-to-trail land are owned by the state. However, Largent said some sections within the 24-mile stretch are under easements, which are agreements allowing the crossing of someone else’s land. She successfully argued that the purpose of the easement can’t be changed without just compensation to the landowners.
She said the $128,000 will be paid out of a federal judgment fund, and efforts to create the trail will continue regardless of the lawsuits.
Robert Foley is with Friends of the Tabor to Platte Rail to Trail.
“No, it doesn’t really doesn’t impact the project,” he said.
Foley said the project is moving forward. He said the group is raising its final $5,000 of funding for a $250,000 feasibility study. He said the study should be completed by late fall.
Largent said her analysis shows another 120 landowners along the corridor qualify for compensation. They have until Aug. 18, 2029, to file a claim. The firm is already pursuing two more cases.
