To the Editor:
I find Ms. Abbot’s letter quite insulting to Julie Russell and Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. Julie does a very comprehensive and thorough inventory of all flora and fauna for each property management plan (available for anyone to see at MVLB office) and defining least-disruptive areas to locate trails. MVLB’s foremost goal is environmental protection, not making land available for public use. Studies show that people repeatedly walking paths compact the earth to a depth of 15 feet, disturbing roots and impacting growth and survival of surrounding plants. The issue was not with the dogs roaming off the trails or the occasional airplane rolling through.
My son is working in Wind Cave National Park, and has been to many parks this past year. This is the first one that it is OK to leave the trails and wander, because the large bison population roams at will, and they cause more damage than humans. We cause the most damage at Trade Wind.
I empathize with having to change walking habits due to loss of trails, as it has been happening my entire life. (I was a member of the MVLB Oak Bluffs town advisory board for many years, and am a current member of Edgartown byways committee.)
Polly Bassett
Edgartown
Citation needed here: ” walking paths compact the earth to a depth of 15 feet ” I smell Bull droppings!