[MA-RPC] FW: [at-l] Motocross Track Plans Fuel Debate

[James Hooper]

Most of the groups buy the land.  My model is the farm land trust.  
They buy the development rights and put other restrictions on the use 
of the land so that it stays as farm land.  We have a lot of wood lots 
next to the trail corridor in the mid Atlantic.  Could we make deals 
that keep them as wood lots.


On Dec 10, 2005, at 8:11 PM, ALLEN BRITTON wrote:

> I completely disagree with Hal's assessment of our options. How about 
> establishing collations with organizations like the Trails lands 
> Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and other like minded groups. If we 
> pool our resources get some influential politicians in our corner we 
> have a chance to save the AT. Why should we have to except what we 
> don't want. If money talks in our culture then lets pool the money!!!
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hal Wright" <halwright at comcast.net>
> To: "MARPC list" <ma-rpc at commerce-02.cilia.org>
> Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 3:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [MA-RPC] FW: [at-l] Motocross Track Plans Fuel Debate
>
>
>>
>> On Dec 10, 2005, at 12:47 PM, James Hooper wrote:
>>> The laws in Pa are loaded in the developers favor.  Being a veteran  
>>> of the development plans in my township I am convinced that the  
>>> only way we can protect the trail corridor in Pa is to obtain the  
>>> development rights of the land surrounding the trail corridor.   We  
>>> need to do this before a developer tries to develop the land.  The  
>>> state courts have been ruling in favor of the developers.
>>
>> ...and therein lies the central tension of ATC leadership in the 21st 
>> century. Peopled with hikers whose core value is to live naturally, 
>> simply and cheaply, the ATC must nonetheless find and pick deep  
>> pockets to preserve the Trail in its present form. Or, it must accept 
>>  that change is inevitable, rezone parts of the Trail as suburban, 
>> and  manage those parts in a way that is consistent with their new,  
>> developed setting. Or, it must consider wholesale relocations that  
>> would put the trail in less developed areas. None of these options is 
>>  palatable, but the clear message of the recent reorganization is 
>> that  leadership finds option 1 less nauseating that options 2 and 3.
>>
>> My prediction is that we will end up preserving some land, doing some 
>> minor relocation, but mostly resigning ourselves to continued  
>> development around major sections of the Trail. Here is where  
>> partnership with law enforcement, first responders, and new residents 
>>  will prove invaluable. In PA, and elsewhere, the trail is already  
>> very close to civilization, stuck in a no man's land where local  
>> enforcement feels not-so-responsible in terms of being proactive, yet 
>>  easily accessed by abusers of the environment and homeless non- 
>> hikers. In developed areas, I believe we will find ourselves managing 
>>  the Trail more like a suburban rail-trail in the years ahead, to 
>> keep  it safe and clean. We will be uncomfortable about the 
>> compromises to  wilderness ethics that will be required, but we will 
>> still have a  nice, woodsy place in which to walk and camp, and key 
>> historical and  cultural aspects of the Trail will remain intact.
>>
>> Just my 2 cents.
>>
>>>
>>> On Dec 10, 2005, at 10:37 AM, Walt Daniels wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: at-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:at-l- 
>>>> bounces at backcountry.net] On
>>>> Behalf Of Steve Landis
>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:28 AM
>>>> To: at-l at backcountry.net
>>>> Subject: [at-l] Motocross Track Plans Fuel Debate
>>>>
>>>> .http://tinyurl.com/bfnp3*
>>>>
>>>> *"The Appalachian Trail passes along Walker Mountain above the  
>>>> track. On the
>>>> other side of the mountain beginning at the summit, and therefore  
>>>> in sight
>>>> of the track, Crawfish Valley is proposed for protection as a  
>>>> National
>>>> Scenic Area. About 1,700 feet downhill from the track flows the  
>>>> North Fork
>>>> of the Holston River, not far at that point below its headwaters.  
>>>> Two miles
>>>> upstream lies land awaiting federal designation as the largest 
>>>> contiguous
>>>> wilderness area east of the Mississippi River."
>>>>
>>>> Steve
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