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Red Blue WhiteThe Battle Over Public Lands - by John Waiveris
November, 2004
I honestly tried to approach this photography.edu project without a political angle. The presidential election was so close and we all seemed to have strongly held views. I was tired of the whole process - and just set off for a hike in the woods.
As a small boy, I was enthralled by the story of Johnny Appleseed. My parents must have rolled their eyes as day after day I begged them to read it before bed. I loved the idea of walking ahead of the wagon trains planting seeds so others could have something to eat. The story about John Chapman (the real person) is a little less altruistic. He certainly planted apple trees, but, like an early franchise, they were part of a nationwide service to sell alcohol to thirsty settlers.
On the other hand, the idea of a trail still excites me. Then it hit me - I was following red blue and white markers. Someone came here before me and painted so I wouldn't get lost. "This is wonderful" I thought.
The idea stayed with me for weeks until the day after Thanksgiving. I have a little tradition of mountain biking behind my parents house. It's a little different these days as skidders been hauling away trees, but it's still a small trail...and I don't mind putting on an orange vest to share with hunters or the occasional ATV. This year was a little tense though because of a recent news story:
"A deer hunter shot and killed five people and injured three others in northwestern Wisconsin following a dispute about a tree stand..."
5 Killed, 3 Hurt in Wis. Hunting Dispute - Associated Press
Being Thanksgiving weekend it seemed funny that people were talking about foreigners coming in and abusing private lands. I mean, didn't the Europeans do just that? Oh wait, no they "bought" the land from the Indians, right?
"Europeans were forever paying the wrong tribe for America, or paying a small fraction within a much larger nation. Often, like the Dutch, they didn't care. They merely sought justification for conquest. "
STEALING THE LAND
Unfortunately, the "modern" Thanksgiving story doesn't match up with the old one either. (note that this section and stories of the bloody battles were left out of the revised edition a few decades later)
"The Indians, seeing their prospects, observed that they would soon be subdued by famine, when they should find them easy prey. A public fast was appointed, and observed with great solemnity. The morning and most of the day was clear and hot, but towards the evening, the clouds collected, and, like the gracious influences of God, the rain descended in moderate, yet copious showers. This revived their aspiring crop, and produced a plentiful harvest. After which they observed a day of public thanksgiving, the origin of the annual thanksgiving which is now observed in New-England.
A History of the United States of America
by Charles a. Goodrich - page 67
Still, I felt happy to have these hiking trails...but then it dawned on me. I can't walk the whole Metacomet trail anymore - (the famous Blue trail that runs parallel to the Adirondac Trail in Connecticut). And mountain bike access is disappearing even faster.
"The depth of bad feeling out there against cyclists is mind-boggling," Blumenthal [executive director of a national off-road cycling advocacy group - IMBA] says in a lull between phone calls. "I've had anti-mountain bikers say they'd rather have development than mountain biking. They'd rather have a big shopping mall. It's just crazy."
August 1999 Outside Magazine
Hey (Hey!) You (You!), Get Off of My Trail!
By Jill Danz
And then just a week later, it hit me again...trail access to rock climbing is disappearing faster still. Public utilities that own the land are afraid of the liability...and the private land owners seem to like the privacy. It doesn't matter if a trail existed 200 years ago..someone owns it now and they would prefer that you stay away.
"Please don't aggravate the situation: remember, this is private land!"
Access Issues - Connecticut Climbing Access
John Peterson
In the end, I couldn't escape the politics. Ironically, that same night during the full moon, my mood came full circle in a busy city. I rode along with a pack of cyclists through New Haven. Holiday shoppers grumbled and beeped as Critical Mass riders clogged traffic and forged their own trail.
Critical Mass exists because thousands of people are exhilarated and inspired by its ability to redefine public space that was mapped out two generations ago with the oil industry at heart. It is the voice of the minority amid the deafening roar of engines and the seduction of Madison Avenue advertising.
Critical to Recall Real `Mass' Appeal
Charles Higgins, San Francisco Gate
Friday, June 30, 2000
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