In Lyons v. Baptist School of Christian Training, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court addressed whether long-standing public use of a private roadway gave rise to a public prescriptive easement. The plaintiffs, local residents, claimed the public had used a road on the Baptist School’s Chapman lot for over 20 years for recreational activities such as hunting, snowmobiling, and accessing nearby properties and waterways. They asserted that such use established a public right to the road.

Although the Superior Court agreed with the plaintiffs and found a public easement by prescription, the Law Court reversed. The Court emphasized that Maine law presumes recreational use of unposted, open land is permissive—not adverse—unless there is clear evidence of a hostile or antagonistic claim of right. Because witnesses largely testified that they believed the landowner permitted their use—or would have respected “No Trespassing” signs if posted—the Court concluded there was insufficient evidence of the adversity required to establish a public easement.

The decision reaffirms Maine’s tradition of presumed landowner permission for public recreational use and underscores the high burden of proving adversity when seeking to establish public prescriptive rights over private land.