This rails-to-trails takings case is before the court after a trial held on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The remand directed the court to develop a factual record bearing on the government’s contention that a set of precedents in the court of appeals should be overruled. The government had argued on appeal that a recent decision of the Supreme Court, had undercut prior decisions by the Federal Circuit (and, indeed, the Supreme Court) relating to the analysis of takings claims in the rails-to-trails context. because the “Arkansas Game decision does raise questions about Ladd [v. United States, 630 F.3d 1015 (Fed. Cir. 2010) ],” and other earlier rails-to-trails decisions by the court of appeals.).

The case has its genesis in a Notice of Interim Trail Use (“NITU”) issued by the federal Surface Transportation Board (“STB”), which authorized conversion of a portion of a railroad line located in Hardin and Franklin Counties, Iowa and its attendant right-of-way into a public recreational trail pursuant to Section 208 of the National Trails System Act Amendments of 1983, Pub. L. No. 98-11, § 208, 97 Stat. 42, 98 (“Trails Act”) (codified at 16 U.S.C. § 1247(d) ). Plaintiffs, owned two parcels of land adjacent to and under the railroad right-of-way on the date of the STB’s action. For one parcel, the predecessor railroad had acquired its interest by a right of way deed, and for the other parcel, the railroad had acquired its rights by condemnation. The successor railroad held easements limited to railroad purposes that were exceeded by issuance of the NITU, rendering the government liable for taking plaintiffs’ property without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment. The government was found liable for a taking of plaintiff’s property on July 3, 2013, upon issuance of the NITU.