Re: [at-l] AT may be too tough says oldtimer ;o)

["Bucky" <mfuller@somtel.com>]

> Ah, but your counter argument is that the ATC controls trail issues, not the
> Federal government. Today that is mostly correct. Will it be in 10 years? With
> the Feds buying up more and more of the trail corridor, will the ATC, a
> non-government, independant organization be able to maintain control over this,
> the "people's land."
 
> I see the future downfall of the AT in it's Federal control, and the eventual
> loss of guidance by the ATC as a result of this.  Can we deny the physically
> handicapped access to the AT today?  If under Federal control, and all Federal
> projects must satisfy the ADA, we cannot.  What does this mean?  How about a
> wheelchair accessible bridge over Mahoosuc Notch?  Far fetched? Perhaps. 
> Perhaps not.


Sure, it's a safe bet that the Feds will eventually destroy the
Appalachian Trail as we know it. Silliness such as the ADA doesn't
concern me as much, though, as the current headlong rush to federalize
as many crimes as possible on government property -- then to enforce
them with an iron fist. My greatest fear is that the trail will soon
no longer be a place "on one of our highest hills...[where] the State
was nowhere to be seen."

> I fear this day will come in my lifetime.

If we want to postpone that day for as long as possible, the last
thing we should do is belly up to Uncle Sugar's money teat. He who
pays the piper gets to call the tune; just ask any university that
has taken federal funds.

> I'm for taking out shelters, not adding more. I'm for making areas less
> accessable, not more accessable. I'd almost prefer to have to carry 10-14
> days of food at all times in order to hike the trail. 

Hmmm. Sounds like a western trail to me.

>                                         Someone is suggesting putting a
> hostel in the middle of the Hundred Mile Wilderness. I guess if that
> happens we'll have to change the name to The Two Fifty Mile Wildernesses...


Don't blame the Feds for that. Blame those popularizing the trail...
if you dare.

--
mfuller@somtel.com; Northern Franklin County, Maine
The Constitution is the white man's ghost shirt.  }>:-/> --->


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