The Disabled Trail: Buried Easements, Buried Rights: A Memoir

The Disabled Trail: Buried Easements, Buried Rights is a raw, unflinching memoir about one man's collision with hidden pipelines, forgotten property rights, and a system stacked against the ordinary citizen. Justin Ian Smith never set out to be an activist. He was simply trying to live a quiet life in rural Florida. But when a buried gas pipeline tore through his family's land—without notice, without compensation, and without accountability—his world unraveled. Fires destroyed his home. FEMA gave him the runaround. Inspectors showed up before dawn as if patrolling him, not the pipeline. Law enforcement passed the buck between counties. And when he fought back with paperwork and persistence, he found himself up against a machine of corporate power and bureaucratic indifference. Told with grit, dark humor, and unwavering honesty, The Disabled Trail is more than a personal story—it's a testimony about the unseen infrastructure that shapes our lives, the rights we lose without even realizing it, and the endurance it takes to stand your ground when every institution seems determined to wear you down. This memoir blends investigative grit with personal reflection, documenting years of battles across two Florida counties where buried easements, buried truths, and buried rights collide. For readers of memoirs that tackle survival, injustice, and resilience—from Hillbilly Elegy to Educated—this is a story of persistence in the face of erasure. If you've ever wondered what happens when ordinary people collide with extraordinary systems of power, The Disabled Trail will open your eyes—and refuse to let you look away.