An attorney representing the Town of Newfane said the town intends to take legal action against a family that owns property crossed by a popular Burt fishing access trail.
According to Cory Weber, attorney with Rupp Pfalzgraf in Buffalo, the Fedkiw family, which owns the land surrounding the Burt railroad trestle, posted “no trespassing” signs along their section of the Eighteenmile Creek fishing trail. The trail, which is accessed from the Town of Newfane’s Fisherman’s Park, is a key part of Newfane’s heavily promoted fishing industry, with easily 100 cars parked there daily for the fall trout and salmon season.
Town supervisor John Syracuse referred all questions concerning the posted property to Weber, who said the town is pursuing an adverse possession ruling, more commonly known as “squatter’s rights.” Cornell Law School’s website says, “Adverse possession is a doctrine under which a trespasser, in physical possession of land owned by someone else, may acquire valid title to the property.”
“From our perspective, there’s essentially been a right of access secured by the town over the years,” Weber said. “A sibling of the property owner had an issue with that and he put up posted signs. We have tried to reach the property owners and to formalize an easement to resolve the whole thing. We wanted to handle it amicably so she was satisfied. We have not been able to get a response from them. We’ve made contact with her sibling, but haven’t been able to get response from the property owner. Because efforts have not been successful, we’re looking at pursuing a legal proceeding and asking the court to recognize that the town has a legal right to access this property.”
The issue arose when Mike Fedkiw posted the property, which is owned by his sister Sue, in October in response to the town’s latest fees for fishermen using Fishermen’s Park and, by extension, the trail.
The minutes of the town board’s Oct. 9 work session show that the board unanimously approved Syracuse’s motion to establish park fees that include $3 for entry, $1 for rides up and down the trail on a golf cart, and $1 per fish.
Fedkiw declined to comment on the matter, saying that he made his statement on a Burt community Facebook page. In that post, Fedkiw said the town is profiting from charging people for rides and access fees on his family’s property, and suggested the access could continue only if local residents can ride on the path free of charge. He said he wanted to “do something good for the local residents and make sure they aren’t the ones being gouged when there’s so much outside money coming in during salmon season.”
“My firm was engaged earlier this month, once the posted signs were put up,” Weber said last week.
Asked why legal action was being taken against a property owner who has cooperated and provided access for the town for many years, Weber said he didn’t agree with the characterization.
“What we want to do is protect the right of access for the public,” Weber said. “The issue that we’re running into is that we’d like to protect this access for this season. If the property owner is willing to propose an easement agreement, recognizing the right, we could resolve it that way.”
Jeff Weis, a Pittsburgh angler who happily caught a 14-pound brown trout at Eighteenmile Creek this week, said he’s a “property rights guy.” Weis said he walked to Fishermen’s Park himself, and he questioned how popular add-on fees would be with fishermen.
“If you make things too difficult, you cut off your nose to spite your face,” he said.
A sign on the fence entering Fisherman’s Park states, “If fishing from the west side of the stream, please stay in the water. The land is ‘private property’ and you are trespassing.” It is not clear whether the sign was installed after the Fedkiws posted their land.
On Thursday, the town’s golf cart only traveled the section of the trail that goes directly between the parking lot and the creek, avoiding the posted property.
Jason Schultz, owner of Master Baiter’s tackle and bait shop on Lockport Olcott Road, said Newfane residents are already paying for the park through their taxes. But the fishery is supported by state taxes as well.
A 2024 article by Lisa Bielmeier said the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Association’s “Pen Rearing Program got its start in 2004 with the help of the Niagara River Anglers Association and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC). The original plan was to allow fish to acclimate to Eighteenmile Creek in Olcott and ‘imprint’ to the tributary so that at the end of their life cycle they would return and spawn. DEC studies have shown that pen-reared fish have a two-to-one better survival rate than direct stocked fish. Thus, resulting in an increased return to Eighteenmile Creek and surrounding tributaries creating a year-round chinook ‘king’ salmon fishery for both lake and tributary anglers, bolstering the economy of Niagara County and its lakeside villages.”
According to Jim Markham, the DEC’s Region 9 fish manager covering Western New York, state hatcheries provide the trout and salmon for pen rearing and release.