[at-l] Trip report and a question

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

>"...Sometimes I really wonder if some people on this list ... actually do
>anything ourdoor related," ponders Mags.

I think a lot of us do things "outdoor related," though often not as much in the
outdoors as we would wish.

Critical decisions continue to be made about the future of the northern Maine
forests, through which the Appalachian Trail passes. This is at best a two-year
window of opportunity. I'd love to take the summer off for a long distance hike.
But I'm also being challenged to write fund raising brochures and letters by the
Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust. I know which task I would prefer. But
conscience gets in the way.

 Our tiny local land trust now owns or has easements on 800 acres. These
 holdings will grow to at least a thousand acres within a year or so. I spent
 all day and much of the evening Saturday at a planning session on what the
 trust needs to do to responsibly manage these land for our children,
 grandchildren and future generations forever. The important question: Can
 amateurs, with no professional help, manage for the public benefit, that kind
 of land base in a rapidly growing coastal town with land values increasing 20
 percent a year or more? And if not, how do we raise the money needed for
 professional help.

 The fee lands, the lands we own outright are easy -- or relatively so. It's the
 easements that cause worry. The easements will have us sharing ownership with
 the children, grandchildren and in some cases the cousins and nephews and
 nieces of the easement grantors. Most of our easements were written by
 amateurs. But we will face high paid lawyers when the heirs begin to dream
 recovering the largesse of their parents, uncles and aunts.

 Maybe we are worrying for nothing. But we spent most of Saturday anyway
 thrashing out what our responsibilities are and how best to carry them out.

 And Yeah. From time to time extraneous issues like global warming intrude. I
 know it's comforting to think that believers in the reality of global warming
 are modern Lysenkos. Sadly, it's not true. Global warming is a reality. It's
 mostly caused by humans. And only humans can prevent a disaster.

 I know I shouldn't debate the issue on this list, because it's a waste of time.
 No minds will be changed. But when I think of the lands we are fighting to
 preserve and how terribly global warming will degrade those lands, from time to
 time I get carried away. Sorry about that. But those are the facts.

 Weary