Physical existence of a trail does not mean the trail is a public thoroughfare, or that its future existence is assured. Public use of trails crossing private land is often allowed by the good will of the landowner. When the landowner chooses to develop his or her parcel, or the ownership of the parcel changes, public use of the trail may no longer be allowed. "Prescriptive rights" must meet specific legal requirements, are often difficult and costly to prove, and contentious. Claiming prescriptive rights for recreational purposes has been controversial and unsuccessful in most legal suits.

Even trails which traverse public land should be secured through dedication of trail easements. Many public lands are managed for specific purposes, and are not open to all public uses.

A list of acquisition options includes: 1. fee simple purchase, 2. split fee or partial fee purchase (such as purchase of an easement), 3. negotiated exchange or trade, 4. acceptance of grants, gifts, or donations, 5. dedication through platting, 6. municipal entitlement in accordance with Alaska law, 7. legal judgements or settlement of claims, 8. lease, 9. option to purchase, and 10. exercising the powers of eminent domain.

A real estate purchase or lease agreement may consist of a combination of transaction types. For instance, a fee simple purchase may be made subject to the right of occupancy and use, or may be combined with a leaseback agreement.

Public use of trails might also be acquired through dedication or purchase of an easement. An easement allows use of a property for a specific purpose, though the ownership of the surface estate may remain in private ownership. In any fee split agreement, which rights are owned by which party must be precisely defined and extremely clear. Normally any rights not mentioned will go to whoever holds the residuary rights. Several governmental entities from around the nation have found that the costs of acquiring limited rights in a property are less expensive than a fee simple purchase. Other governmental entities feel that the legal complexity involved and the overall costs of split fee purchases make "fee simple" acquisition more desirable.

Acquisition of partial fee has been most successful when there is no immediate and intense pressure for development and where the rights acquired for public use do not affect the existing use of the land. Partial rights to a property might be purchased if the landowners have no intention or perhaps little opportunity to develop their property. In such cases, the landowner may receive an unexpected near-term benefit. From a government perspective, a purchase may be seen as providing a desirable public amenity or solution to a persistent trespass situation.

The "conservation easement" is one type of split or partial fee that can be held for the benefit of the public on privately held land. "Conservation easements" as defined in Alaska State Statutes, AS 34.17.010, the "Uniform Conservation Easement Act", create an interest in private property to retain or protect natural, scenic or open space values of real property to ensure its availability for recreation or other uses. The interest is a part fee ownership by a government, or a nonprofit corporation or association such as a land trust. The easement may be transferred as are other real property easements are transferred and may or may not be limited in duration, depending on the terms in the legal document creating the interest.

Incentives can be used to encourage the dedication of trails and access easements for public use; it offers some type of compensation for allowing public use. An example is tax incentives, which have been used extensively in agricultural areas throughout the nation, even to the extent that revisions are made in state statutes to allow it. In these cases, a significant reduction or elimination of property taxes is allowed for the land under partial public use. This advantageous tax status can be either for an indefinite term or possibly a 20-year term; often, when taken out of that designation, the difference in back taxes are due. Past taxes can be substantial amounts that encourage the long-term or permanent dedication of the land made available for public access.

Conservation easements may also be granted lower tax benefits. The jurisdiction with taxing ability may assess and keep records on both the full value and the value of the land subject to the conservation easements. If the conservation easement has an end date, then the taxes on the conservation easement land at full value for past taxes will be due.

Another example of tax incentives is the Kenai River System Habitat Protection Tax Credit. This measure provides partial reimbursement for habitat protection and restoration project expenses on and adjacent to the Kenai River and its tributaries.

In parts of Washington State the seller of a property can be taxed by the local government for a percentage of the property’s selling price. This can be used as a potential disincentive to selling land and/or as a fund-raising activity for recreational or other government sponsored needs. Special tax assessments also delineated to be spent for special purposes may be levied via property or gasoline taxes, e.g. one quarter of one- percent mil rate or a few cents on the gallon to support parks and maintenance.

Properties may be donated to a public or non-profit entity by a private owner for a public use; donations might be for memorials or commemorations, as a conservation measure, to bring public use nearer to commercial or public attraction outlets, or for other reasons.

In all these cases, the property must be surveyed, appraised, submitted for donation, considered and accepted by the receiving entity. Finally the legal work will then be transacted to effect the transfer. A donation may be a fee simple transaction or can be a fee simple plus lease back, which then allows the former use without the tax and maintenance responsibilities.

Before a geographic area is highly developed, such as in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, careful up-front planning can save taxpayer money, eliminate potential landowner /government conflicts, and insure that recreational lands are available as the land development pressures increase. Without this commitment, planners and citizens may have to resort to placing public access and facilities only on publicly held lands. This results in discontinuous trails which stop at a private property lines, lack of access to publicly-owned water bodies, infringement on private property by the public, and inability to develop the best designs for efficient and high quality trail systems.

Governments have possibly the best structure and the authority to focus efforts toward developing recreational facilities. A regional and local government can instigate coordination and support to develop a clear statement of goals and policies with specific requirements for review, retainment and implementation. A government can also require its land managers to review all lands for potential public uses prior to potential disposal to private entities, e.g., open space, conservation areas, and recreational areas and trails. The platting and zoning review process allows negotiation with private landowners regarding public access to public waters, leaving open space, scenic vistas or other avenues to allow public use of appropriate lands. The ability to tax can put into effect many types of financial incen tives and disincentives.

A government entity may:

1. Act as the central coordinator for developing agreements and setting priorities for developing and maintaining recreational facilities. This is the recreational plan that which provides the foundation for the continuity, safety and utility of the trail system. Coordination would occur among private and public bodies, e.g. Native corporations, community councils, homeowners, recreation associations, visitor associations, commercial entities, cities and municipalities, borough, state and federal agencies;

2. Act as the central fact keeping entity, e.g. develop and keep current a set of large-scale maps that identify recommended trail corridors. These maps would be marked with desirable public throughways to be used in community and planning department reviews, garnering support from the local communities, and various incentives including reduction of property taxes on lands dedicated to such uses;

3. Review any potential or requested disposals or vacations of Borough lands for consistency with the trails plan, and identify and retain any and all lands which have trail use potential;

4. Develop as part of the Borough Platting process a review of all plat requests that considers the conservation, open space or trail needs under the approved Trails Plan;

5. Reserve public land or easements prior to approving land plats or subdivisions;

6. Identify utility easements within which trails could be developed and investigate utility and rail easements agreements for recreational uses (can be vacated or still in use);

7. Require dedication of public access to water bodies or trails on subdivision plats. For example, in exchange for conditional use allowances, building alignment may be adjusted to efficient use of the property while still allowing public access across the property;

8. Develop incentives or disincentives such as tax credits, reduced taxation for recreational interests, authorizing the transfer of development rights "TDRs", taxation of capital gains from land (upon sale), etc.;

9. Actively pursue the dedication of rights-of-way and easements to facilitate access to, and continuity in the system of trails, parks, greenbelts, and open spaces. These may be through fee simple or partial fee acquisition;

10. Encourage voluntary dedication of trail easements, right-of-way permits, cooperative agreements or other forms of written permission for public use;

11. Increase public awareness of existing access points including producing maps showing section line easements, dedicated access points and improvements that provide access to water bodies. Provide signing to identify access points; and

12. Initiate or cooperate with efforts to find funding sources, raise funds and assisting others in gaining funding for lands acquisition, facility maintenance and operation.

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