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[at-l] re: "Viewshed"??

Sharon wrote:

> and there
> is plenty of wilderness, many places where you can feel like you are
> far far from anything.

I have to disagree here.  There are precious few places in the lower 48
where you can truly feel like you are far far from anything.  Only 4% of
the total land area in the lower 48 is federal Wilderness with another 2%
being studied for Wilderness designation.  Most Wilderness is concentrated
in the inter-mountain West, so the problem is particlarly acute in the East
where the majority of people live.  Even here in Colorado, there are very
few mountain peaks where one can stand on top at night and not see city lights.

> I can certainly
> understand the landowners position.  Who the hell do we think we are,
> anyway?  We want to walk through here and we don't want to see your
> house while we do it.

And would you prefer the AT become a narrow column running between condos
and subdivisions?  Vacation homes and mountain esates are going up
all over the place in Colorado.  As the baby boomers retire, this type of
"development" is going to go into high gear.

> No wonder some locals are seen as "hostile" to hikers.

Eminent Domain is well established and protected by the Constitution.  It is not
"heavy handed" to take private land for the greater good of society, though
some militia groups will disagree.

>  How about "Live your own life, on your own land".

Nice idea, but not possible in modern society.  What if your neighbor decided to
open a trash dump on his/her land?

Ok, my turn on the soap box...

Our public lands are one of our great national treasures.
IMHO,  we should try expand public lands to meet current and
future demand.  Since all land that is not public is private, this means some
private land will have to be acquired.  Since large blocks of land are much more
useful than a patchwork of little bits of land, it is likely that Eminent Domain
will have to be used in some cases and likely some people will feel they got
cheated.  IMHO, the greater good to society that public lands provide, far
out weigh any losses these people suffer.

Subject: down...

                                   -Tom
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