[at-l] Letter to the editor

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 09:57 PM 8/19/2004 -0400, DanandGailSC@aol.com wrote:
>...clip...The Carolinas have
>been the center of hiking and nature walks since the 1920s when George 
>Massa, an
>employee at Asheville's Grove Park Inn and a photographer, got the 
>Appalachian
>Trail going.
>
>The Appalachian Trail is the measuring standard for other such trails whether
>in state parks, national parks or not. On the Appalachian Trail one crosses
>private lands and new owners abide with the easements granted when the trail
>was first created. It would seem that similar permanent easements could be
>worked out with the new owners.

Mr. Rowland is ill informed. The AT has had numerous re-routes since its 
inception due to landowners (and not necessarily "new" owners) withdrawing 
permission to cross their land. AT easements were not "permanent". That is 
why it was necessary to acquire land in order to establish a "permanent" 
corridor for the trail.

Given Mr. Rowland's level of misinformation it is not surprising that he 
also believes that the AT was the work of George Massa. Those who are 
really interested in the creation of the AT's permanent corridor are 
directed to "The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, A Time To Be Bold" 
although you are warned that the subtitle could well have been 'A Time To 
Be Bored' as it is rather dry reading. Less detailed accounts are to be 
found in many other books including introductory chapters of many thru-hike 
journals, there was a brief history in  ATN some time back and ATC has 6 
other history books listed on their site . FWIW I don't recall Mr. Massa 
being mentioned in any AT history I've read so far. He was probably active 
with a local hiking club and thus is better known to the residents of 
Greenville than those who are generally credited in the wider world with 
having "got the Appalachian Trail going".

The Jim who has sauntered through approximately 4 dozen volumes in his ever 
growing collection of AT books.