[at-l] Letting The Devil In...

[RoksnRoots@aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

I agree that there should be little or no *development* on or near the 
trail.<>


***Good. That was the core theme of the original project in 1937. MacKaye was 
a long range visionary who anticipated the exact situation we are now 
experiencing. He was wise enough to give no trust to the ever rapacious 
status quo using politics, economic theory, and basically sophisticated 
excuses to surge further into nature with development. Undeveloped nature, to 
these free marketeers, is simply the cheapest, most defenseless ground for 
seeking further construction/taxation slog profits. The theme of the Trail 
Project has not changed at all. In fact, it is even more needed now than 
ever. We, unfortunately, have fallen back into complacency thinking the AT is 
set -it isn't! 

<Finally, who's to say that wilderness itself is the end-all? Benton 
Mackaye's vision for the A.T. was as a retreat from civilization, but it 
specifically did include self-sustaining micro-villages (retreats) all along 
the length of it, where people would farm, practice crafts, and so on. That 
idea, sadly, went nowhere.

The sort of wilderness you seek may well be found on the other long trails 
out West. I wouldn't know.>

***Sorry, but this is pure equivocation. Taking an alternate view for balance 
is nice, but sometimes the onus requires full implementation of your view 
unhindered by mitigation. Such is the case with the Trail. Saying "the Trail 
ain't wilderness" is foolish and not worth serious consideration. If the 
Trail is fragmented, then we need to save what is left, not falter in 
speculation letting the rest slide into irretrievable compromise through 
indifference.

What is most important is the clear need to save what little is left of the 
corridor in order to have something similar to virgin wilds left after the 
full scale land destruction we call our GNP is done. You are sticking your 
head in the sand if you think that isn't presently happening all around you. 
The way they look at it is, "well, if it's all going down anyway, I might as 
well get my piece of the action."

I cringe when I hear of condos being built in view of old shelters in 
Pennsylvania because it means that the Trail wasn't given the respect it 
deserved by all involved. The developers simply look at it as a game now and 
where they can't ransom the land, they will build if they aren't stopped. 
These people do not deserve the defense of fairness you extend to them, 
because if it was left to them they would build right over the Trail as they 
are presently doing everywhere else. 

We are at a point now in mankind's evolution where promoting population 
growth through providing unlimited land sprawl accommodation is destructive. 
Using environmental decline as a constant fodder to fuel the insatiable GNP 
furnace is not sound and will not stand. A planet divided will not stand, 
this I hold to be self-evident. God save the AT! We need to keep the Project 
alive. This is the next needed evolution of the human race. If it offends you 
it doesn't matter a darn! 

The common delusion is to go elsewhere to seek the wilderness you want. That 
is false and exactly the excuse the developers and pols are using to cover 
everything in sprawl. Unlimited exploitation of private property for land 
development is an outdated concept, yet these people want to maintain it as 
long as possible because changing it for the better is simply seen as a 
danger to profits.

It is happening out West too. You can't escape it by running away. Sorry if 
this seems strong to you, but tolerance of this decline is something that 
will be directly linked to the ultimate problems we will realize later on. 
But they won't be around to deal with it. It is the worst of human nature 
being provided for with bad results. The sum total of the common view of 
present social intelligence is to see the best reward for existing in this 
hopeless rat race is to get something nice for yourself. If it means 
destroying that which you came to enjoy -so be it. Something that short 
responses won't cover. 

                                                                              
   - Rocks 'n Roots