To the editor:

Not all seemingly good ideas turn out to be the way they were intended. History has proven that.

Despite the fact that we have the Adirondack Rail Trail, Visitors Interpretive Center, the Wild Center and John Dillon Park wilderness facility, the Adirondack Land Trust feels compelled to develop approximately 2.25 miles of trails on the Glenview Preserve, located on Route 86 in the town of Harrietstown. Why? Well, ACT wants to make this vista accessible to everyone, not unlike the aforementioned recreational venues.

If you drive or bike this stretch of Route 86, you have undoubtedly seen how busy traffic becomes during the peak summer and fall months. We who live on this road have witnessed vehicular accidents, passing on double lines, slow-moving farm equipment and cars parking on the roadside for pictures. Road safety will be further compromised by a proposed entrance and parking lot in the preserve. Overflowing parking would be a disaster; look at Route 73 heading to Keene. Bikers, hikers and automobiles!

Crowds that will build up over the years will seriously threaten the very things that this land was purchased and developed to protect. A healthy ecosystem has a rich level or biodiversity. Mowing, digging, building and human impact will upend the biodiversity of this unique landscape. Are we willing to sacrifice this environment without sustainable benefits to wildlife, vegetation and erosion?

Once this land has been developed, there is no turning back. It will never be the same beautiful, breathtaking landscape that it is today. There are friends, neighbors, seasonal homeowners, visitors, businessowners, etc. (550-plus total) who have signed a petition against this proposed development. We all have the opinion that the preserve should stay the way it is currently — preserved. Undeveloped. Left in its natural state.

One has to wonder what the future generations of conservationists will be thinking when they witness some of these seemingly good ideas gone bad.

Linda Branch

Harrietstown