Boulder’s Scott Jurek, one of the most accomplished ultramarathoners, broke the supported speed record for the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail. (Provided by the Luis Escobar)
Re: “This land is your land? Tensions rise over use of the great outdoors,” July 24 news story.
Good for Jensen Bissell, director of the private-trust-funded Baxter State Park, for protecting wilderness values amidst the celebration that followed Scott Jurek’s incredible feat. [Jurek hiked the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail in a record 46 days, 8 hours and 7 minutes.]
I go into the mountains for the experience of wildness, the beauty and peace that I find there. I understand I have to share, that others want to go too — and so there are often many other hikers on the trails, particularly lower down making their way up as I am on my descent. I hurry off the mountain then, the solitude broken.
It is all the things we carry with us from the non-wilderness into the wild that are so distressing and destructive, from plastic and cans to off-road vehicles.
It is wonderful that more people want to enjoy the wilderness. But please, just enjoy it for what it is, as it is — do not diminish or destroy it.
Bonnie Mandell-Rice, Broomfield
This letter was published in the July 29 edition.The original intent for protected public lands was certainly not today’s “Zeitgeist of adventure” or commercial gain. Changing public values have created a new class of user that desires a wildlands amusement park adventure. I don’t know which is worse: the mountain bikes or all-terrain vehicles.
One of the most insightful posters to come out of the 1970s environmental movement showed comic strip character Pogo summing up the gist of the environmental problem: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Pogo was a wise possum.
Thomas J. Straka, Pendleton, S.C.
The writer is a professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Clemson University.
This letter was published in the July 29 edition.
