BNSF Railway blocking public land/waters
Wisconsin
Seems like WI sportsman need to push back HARD!!!!
I guess private property is "private property",,,, it's pretty tough to "push back" against railroads who have more $$ than they know what to do with. Not a good deal but like I said, it is their property.
booner, it is their property. However, they used to allow crossing. They secretly got the repealed. I guess they don't care what the general public's opinion of them is. A big corporation bullying the common man. Of course if you don't hunt or fish public land, this will be of little concern to you.
I believe the issue is somewhere along the lines of all the people having a problem with petroleum products being transported via rail. Once again the actions of a few ruin it for the rest of us.
Private property rights really took a hit when the USA Supreme Court ruled that one's property can be taken from him (eminent domain compensation) and ownership can be transfered to another private individual, when that individual can convince the government he can create a higher tax base than the previous owner.
And now you want start crossing another's property because you have been doing it for quite sometime (even though it was always trespassing to do so) and you don't want to be inconveinced to go were there is public access.
Hope you win and further erode what was once a right of free individuals. There is a lot of neat private properties, I would like to roam across now and then on the way to hunting and fishing spots.
This will be great, especially out west, where huge blocks of public land are currently blocked by individual and large corporate landowners.
Basic rights are for all no matter if your small or big.
Be careful to abdicate your rights, you may lose more than what you thought, you would have gained.
Well,that pretty much sucks. I used to deer and duck hunt some spots on both sides of the Mississippi river that required crossing the tracks. Either that or pull a boat, launch it, run it through backwaters, and all the hassle that goes with all that.
Another gripe I have noticed lately. There have been a lot RR cars parked from south of Spooner to Hayward. At one spot somewhere around Earl there is a little lake close to and in view of hwy 63 and the tracks are between the two. Lately there have always been tank cars parked there. It makes the view of that little lake suck from the road and I can only imagine how much that must make the view from the lake suck. Why the RR can't leave a gap in the parked cars there just like they do at crossings makes me wonder how much the RR just doesn't care. After reading the linked article I wonder if they don't purposely park cars there to discourage people from parking on the shoulder and crossing the tracks to fish that lake. I frequently see people doing that in the winter.
Jeff, how dare you suggest such things. It's the railroads land, they can use it any way they want. Well that's what others in this thread are saying. It's pretty easy to see by the responses, that these guys hunt all private land.
I own land split by a railroad spur. We have tried to reason with the railroad about access to land we pay taxes on but cannot get to. The only access we have is launching a boat and driving 3 miles up the lake to get to the property, a mere 40 feet away from land accessed you road. Separation by RR is not good. Is it liability, terroristic issues, or something else. The occasional train moves at 5 mph and even grass grows along side the rails. So, it bites. Cannot get to our lake lot except by boat...just like an island.
This is BNSF being a$$holes plain and simple. I have a house and land that has a track across from it here in Chippewa county. The tracks here are owned by a different company, and they don't try and play hard ass like this. They let the High school track and cross country teams run along the tracks as it's safer than running the back roads. They let sportsman, birdwatchers, etc use the tracks for access to land or water. BNSF is not being forced to do anything they don't want to do. What they want to do, is throw their weight around.
I understand why it sucks to not be able to cross the tracks but it is property not owned by you. We used to hunt rabbits on the tracks (great place for rabbits) but no longer do because it is considered trespassing. The railroad companies are so big that there is no way they can negotiate or agree to let one person on or cross tracks, heck our city can't even get the RR to respond about selling a piece of property the RR no longer uses or even has tracks going to.
It's quite ironic how the RR can't be bothered by certain things. Yet when it comes time to open another sand mine in an area they are all about the environment and the people of that area. Yes the RR companies help rally for sand mines, as they receive a lot of business from them. I understand it's their land. But they could work something out with the state for crossing easements. Hell they could charge the state quite a bit for them. But that's probably what this is all leading up to.
RUT,,, your barking up the wrong tree with me. I am a locomotive engineer with the bnsf, I see this trespassing each and everyday, you have no clue what it's like hitting someone on the tracks, cutting someone in half trying to cut thru a stopped train, hitting that family trying to beat the x crossing gates... Don't go there with me I've been in one of those situations, it's ugly. There so much more rail traffic now compared to even 5 yrs ago. Remember these tracks and their properties have been there long before any homes or towns/cities. The railroads not trying to bully anybody, it's called liability. Everybody wants a payday when it comes to a RR. It does suck for the guys who have to hunt/fish those lands, put yourself in a crews situation when a tragedy happens, it affects us forever. That's all I have on this topic.
booner I see your point. But if the linked article can be trusted. No one that was using the tracks as access for hunting/fishing have ever been struck in WI. Like I said above, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this was just a build up so that someone would have to pay.
Agree with BNSF. Hunters like to abuse private property rights, especially out west. Stay off from private property without permission!!!!!
Hmmmm, these trains frequently carry deadly chemicals. Maybe the state should have a lot more strict and expensive regulation on this. After all, it's about safety.
Entitlement is correct, I cannot believe hunters sometimes..
Personal property rights are just that, personal property rights. Why do hunters feel entitled to someone else's personal property?
Entitlement is correct, I cannot believe hunters sometimes..
Personal property rights are just that, personal property rights. Why do hunters feel entitled to someone else's personal property?
A little off topic. I see rail cars parked around the LP plant west of Hayward loaded with logs. Also empty cars with lots of tree bark laying on their deck, or structural members left from hauling logs to/from who knows where. If we can't move firewood around the state how does the RR get by with moving logs with bark on them and then hauling bark around who knows how far?
This is entertaining, we have a non-resident and a multi personality internet troll siding with each other.
I see the decision being reversed at some point. My land runs on both sides of Hwy. 17 that would be like saying I couldn't cross the road to get to my land. Making that section unusable due to being land locked without the road access.
DT, apples and oranges. HWY 17 is public land a RR is not public land. I Joe Smith owned the land between your parcels would it be OK to go across his land?
"LOL. An entitlement driven tresspasser insisting private land owners allow him you use/cross their lands in spite of the obvious reasons they wont allow access"
Pretty bold for a past violator such as yourself to call others one. Technically I have no dog in this fight as I primarily hunt private. The public lands I do hunt do not require any kind of access like this. However I am thinking of others that do have to deal with the a$$holes at BSNF. Yes that narrow strip of land their tracks are on is their private land. But they are knowingly blocking access to public land/waters. Is it legal, sure. But it sure makes them look like ass hats.
I thought there was no such thing as landlocked properties..I was told once years ago that open lands can not be landlocked if not accessible .If this is true ..and a big if...wouldn't this be the same as a landowner denying access to open Forest crop land by leaving a access 40 closed???
Seems the same to me
I wonder how much the RR's pay for real estate taxes per acre of track/right of way compared to land owned by other businesses in the area.
I got curious about RR real estate taxes. I looked up two parcels of track by the LP plant in Hayward. Owned by Wis Central Transportation Co. Zero Tax.
Then I looked up two Burlington Northern parcels in Buffalo County, again Zero Tax.
That's even better tax break than the forest crop programs and they don't even need to let people hunt on RR land.
Rail roads are treated vastly different than other people and businesses because they were essential in the expansion of the country, even today they do things that are neccesary for the country.
This all sounds a lot like a city guy who moves to the country and then complains about the smells of farming.
Zinger, they make plenty of money to pay taxes. Zero taxes and they still get to block public land. That's entitlement right there.
They don't "get" to block public land - you don't get to trespass across their land without their permission.
If there's public land between the RR and river then they're not blocking access at all, you can still access the public land via the river. It's not the easiest access but no one ever said it needs to be the easiest access.
The land was probably given to the RR also way back when because without the RR's expansion would have taken a much longer time. Out west the RR was given vast swaths of land so they could sell it to make them putting the tracks worth the money. It's like the indian treaties, I don't like them but that's the way it is.
