Re: missing communities along the trail, was Re: [at-l] HikingCommunity---

["Leslie Booher" <lwbooher@evansville.net>]

My comments really didn't have as much to do with informational changes as
with having the political structure of the ATC to go to bat for us.  That's
really what Sloetoe's and my conversation, all 25 words or so of it, got me
started thinking about.  The ATC has protected a trail corridor for us.
Before, it wasn't protected.  I think the trail will endure longer because
of it.  And, yes, I've gotten help from those people in the tarpaper shacks,
but I don't want fancy, manicured vacation developments right against the
trail.  As a woman hiker, I feel much safer away from the roads.  There are
a lot of places where the trail comes close to developments, and dogs run
the trail; year before last, I saw more dogs on the trail than any other
animal.  My point is not that the trail should be kept out of the nice
little towns and away from people altogether, but that we, individually,
couldn't have protected a trail corridor that will be there for our children
and on and on.  It takes an organization.  Leslie

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas McGinnis <tmcginnis@ucclan.state.in.us>