by John Andrews

Maine's landowner immunity law was written to provide landowners with broad protection from liability for recreational users.  The actual law can be read by clicking here: Maine Recreational Use Statute §159-A. Limited liability for recreational or harvesting activities

The following references (all documents are in Word format) provide additional detailed information:

• Maine Landowner Liability Explained. This brochure (now out of print) explains the statute in layman's terms.

• Landowner Liability. This is a nice summary of recreational use liability in general.

• A Mountain Bike Liability Primer. This is a good summary of recreational use statutes around the country, particularly applied to trails.

• Summary of Maine RR Liability Amendment. This explains the efforts in in 2005 to improve the situation in Maine.

In addition, in 2005 an amendment was passed making it clear that railroads are included. See: Amendment 

(Thanks to Tony Barrett of the East Coast Greenway Association for his help in providing materials for this page)