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

[ALLEN BRITTON]

To tell you the truth Hal, I got the impression that you were just giving up 
on the idea to try to save area's that are threatened and just move the 
trail to an other place, and keep retreating until there is no other place 
to go. You are right we will not win every battle, but, I think we should 
educate and gain friends where ever we can to protect as much as we can.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hal Wright" <halwright at comcast.net>
To: "MARPC list" <ma-rpc at commerce-02.cilia.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 11:59 AM
Subject: Re: [MA-RPC] FW: [at-l] Motocross Track Plans Fuel Debate


>
> 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!!!
>
> Al, exactly what is it you're disagreeing with? I said we had to find 
> some deep pockets. Isn't that what you're proposing? Are you  disagreeing 
> that huge chunks of trail are no longer wilderness, but  rather a thin 
> sliver of woods running through farms and (potentially  sprawling) towns? 
> Do you think we are going to win every fight  against development by 
> partnership alone? Don't land trust  organizations have entire states to 
> consider, not just our parochial  interests?
>
> Please understand, I am 100% behind the idea of forming these kind of 
> partnerships and I will help in that effort in any way I can. Don't 
> interpret my comments to mean that I am not energized for this  effort, I 
> am, I assure you. I just meant to say, inevitably,  realistically, we will 
> have to pick our fights.
>
> If you've used Google maps to look at the trail corridor, what do you  see 
> in MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT? Where is the trail more than a 30 minute  walk in 
> the woods from a road / farm / developed lot? If you've hiked  at night in 
> these areas, especially in the winter, how undeveloped  does the area seem 
> as measured by the number and proximity of lights  you can see at any 
> moment? When you lie down to sleep at a shelter,  do you hear just owls 
> and planes, or owls and planes mixed in with  motorcycles revving, trucks 
> clunking over expansion joints, dogs  barking, kids yelling, and so on? Is 
> it always just fellow hikers at  the shelter?
>
> By contrast, there are many sections of trail in VA where an entire  vista 
> may contain just a few farm buildings, and mostly relatively  undisturbed 
> woods. At night it's dark, dark, very, very dark, and  dead quiet but for 
> wild animals and airplanes.
>
> Hikers I have met often say the AT in PA is a "backwoods expressway,"  and 
> that for a genuine wilderness experience, you have to keep  driving north 
> to places like Tioga County PA (central PA, near the NY  border). Although 
> I quarrel with the characterization as an  expressway, speaking strictly 
> in geographic and demographic terms,  they're right. So why not embrace 
> that role to accomplish some of  what the new ATC has in mind: education, 
> preservation of heritage and  culture, wildlife monitoring, water quality 
> monitoring, migratory  path preservation, and so on. Whatever resources we 
> garner, we will  not be able to preserve everything in its present state 
> of wildness.  My preference would be to keep genuinely wild areas wild, 
> and resign  ourselves to adopt the trail to its new setting in those areas 
> where  we lose the fight and development creeps in. What choice do we 
> have?
>
> Then there is the matter of politics that you mention. Many wild  areas 
> through which the trail passes are undeveloped only because the  citizenry 
> are poor. It is Appalachia, after all. In some cases, we've  got the land 
> because the federal government kicked out most of the  population that was 
> there. Those people who remain are disconnected  from the national and 
> global economy, some by choice, some by  circumstance. But for those who 
> want it, globalization and  technological advances have the potential to 
> provide connectivity. In  the decades ahead, a sea change in the economies 
> of towns bordering  the trail is possible. I view this as a mostly good 
> thing for  humanity, but it does pose a number of dilemmas for us. From a 
> political point of view, it will be tough for any politician at the  state 
> or local level to argue against connectivity and growth. I've  heard 
> Rendell (PA governor) talk on this point, and he clearly states  he will 
> favor economic development over preservation in poverty- stricken areas of 
> the state every time (and who can blame him). At  the federal level, we 
> are in an era where environmental concerns are  taking a back seat, so 
> that will be a hard sell too.
>
> So here's what we need to do as a last resort:
>
> * Push for development that minimizes sprawl in favor of concentrated 
> housing and open space built into the development, nominally, open  space 
> backing up to the AT corridor. This will also be a hard sell in  a culture 
> that favors half-acre, fenced and groomed mini-fiefdoms for  every family. 
> (Everything we are doing is a hard sell, I guess that's  an overarching 
> theme.)
>
> * Push for business development that has minimal impact. Right now,  it 
> seems the development that does occur (skiing, car racing,  motocross, 
> airports) has maximal impact, and helps the people who  already live near 
> the trail very little. In short, it's a lose-lose.
>
> It isn't all bad. If we have a bigger population of young people  close to 
> the trail, moving in from other places, at least it provides  more 
> opportunities for outreach with people who do not have wholly- formed 
> attitudes about the backwoods ingrained since birth.
>
> By the way, I walked the area of the Trail under threat by motocross  this 
> summer. Walker Mountain is privately owned. It's a classic case:  in an 
> area that is basically connector trail between national forest  lands, and 
> therefore more exposed to human activity. In other words,  just like most 
> of the mid-Atlantic region.
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