Crime & Courts

State wins yearslong court battle over public access to part of historic Iditarod Trail

The state has emerged the victor in a prolonged court battle over the use of a portion of the "historic Iditarod Trail" against two sisters living in California who inherited the family homestead in Alaska and wanted to keep people off it.

Kelly Dickson and Donna Defusco sought to affirm in May 2012 their ownership of two roads cutting across their property near Big Lake, arguing the parcels they owned were free and clear of public rights-of-way.

The state responded by arguing the opposite, setting the stage for what would result in a nearly monthlong, non-jury trial with 20 witnesses and more than 400 exhibits.

Assistant attorney general Kent Sullivan said the case expended considerable resources, but if the sisters' complaint went unanswered the state would have lost important property interests it protects on behalf of Alaskans.

"If the state had done nothing, it would have made a 1,000-mile trail discontinuous, and that's the historic Iditarod Trail. It would have had a chunk missing out the middle of it," Sullivan said. The other road in question is the only legal access for property owners in the area, he said.

Court records say the original property in question was homesteaded beginning in 1958. The plaintiffs' father, Benjamin Cowart, got his patent from the federal government in 1965. More acreage was bought over time. The 240-acre property is about 9 miles west of Knik and is surrounded by properties also established decades ago.

The land was split between the sisters, who left Alaska 30 years ago, when Cowart's wife died in 2007.

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The first of two routes running through the property was called the historic Iditarod Trail during the trial. The entire trail runs from Seward to Nome, but the trial focused on a portion that generally runs east to west from Knik to Susitna. This caused some confusion in the courtroom as the trail is separate from the Iditarod National Historic Trail and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race route.

Arguments focused on the existence of the trail, the exact location of the trail (whether it went through the plaintiffs' property) and how often it was used. The frequency of use allows the state to establish a public right-of-way by means of The Mining Act, passed in 1866. Right-of-way means people are allowed to travel on a route regardless of who owns the underlying land.

The location of the trail was determined when the state presented numerous aerial photos from multiple decades in the past century and U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps, both of which were analyzed by expert witnesses from both parties.

An unwillingness of the plaintiffs to accept reasonably disputable facts prolonged the case, Sullivan said.

"They refused to acknowledge the fact that the historic Iditarod Trail exists, or that old USGS maps showed routes in the same locations as those being claimed by the state crossing the plaintiffs' property. These things drove up the time and cost of litigation," he said.

As for the trail's use, Dickson and Defusco argued, among other theories, the Alaska Railroad Commission had abandoned it and opted to realign it in the 1920s.

But Anchorage Superior Court Judge Catherine Easter ruled that the commission did not abandon the historic trail but instead chose to stop allocating resources to it. Regardless, people continued to use the trail, the judge said.

"The Court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the public used the 'historic Iditarod trail' across the plaintiffs' property 'for such a period of time and under such conditions as to prove that the (right-of-way) grant has been accepted,' " Easter said.

The trail's users during the 1950s and 1960s included sled dog mushers Joe Redington Sr., Dick Mackey, Clem Tellman, Stanley Collins and Hal Cluste, among others, Easter wrote in her findings of fact and conclusions of law affidavit for the case.

Starting in 1967, Mackey and Redington Sr. helped clear the trail for the 1967 Iditarod Centennial Race, the court document says. Mackey identified the location of the trail in court and testified that mushers traversed it in multiple races.

That use continued until 1983, when Cowart started blocking the historic Iditarod Trail with a no-trespassing sign, according to the court document.

Jon Brautigan, vice president of the Knik Trailblazers, who was previously a defendant in the lawsuit, testified that the blockade caused organizers to shift the Iditarod race route to Homestead Road, the second road the sisters sought to claim as theirs alone.

Easter ruled that Homestead Road as it crosses the plaintiffs' property is a 20-foot "public prescriptive easement." That is to say, the road became public by continued public use.

The man who built the road, Chuck Sassara, provided video testimony that he'd built the road in the summer of 1958, though he wasn't sure of the exact date. However, he said he intended for the road to be used by homesteaders in the area, and he continued to maintain the road in the following years.

Multiple mushers and sled dog officials testified that the route was favored in numerous races. Brautigan said Homestead was chosen over an alternative route on Moore Road, because a section known as Suicide Hill was steep and shared by motor traffic.

Dickson told the judge that from her earliest memories, her father tried to keep people off Homestead. Cowart posted hand-painted no-trespassing signs along the property. Dickson flew to Alaska in 2008, after her father's death, and blocked the road as it entered and exited the property. The blockage was soon pushed aside, Easter's ruling says.

The judge found "an overwhelming amount of evidence of the public using Homestead Road. Ever since the road was constructed by Mr. Sassara, homesteaders and other users have taken highway vehicles and other off-road vehicles across Homestead Road. Since at least 1984, over one hundred sled dog races have been run across Homestead Road."

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The case was long and costly. The sisters' attorney, Adolf Zeman, said his clients are disappointed with the court's decision. Dickson and Defusco wanted to maintain the characteristics of the land as they remembered it.

"Their emotional tie to the land comes from growing up out there. It's something their father cared about deeply, and it was their desire to maintain it as it's been, not only for themselves but for their kids," Zeman said.

Sullivan called the sisters' decision to fight the state for years "baffling."

"The state wasn't trying to get the property — we wanted the rights-of-way — and yet the amount they spent on the case far exceeds the amount that the property is worth," Sullivan said, adding that the state was working on a motion to collect attorney's fees.

Veteran Iditarod musher DeeDee Jonrowe said in a phone interview that she agreed with the judge's decision. She recalled using the trails on multiple occasions to haul gear and access kennels.

Now, the long-established trail system is being recognized for what it is, Jonrowe said.

"We're losing history as the (Mat-Su) develops," Jonrowe said. "It's important for the community to keep its history, especially the Knik area, which was used for transportation long before more modern methods were constructed."

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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