April - June 2001
North Star: The Magazine of the North Country Trail
Our Trail Construction Conscience raised in the Winter issue regarding logging practices.
B
ill Menke, retiring from the National Park Service as manager of the North Country National Scenic Trail certainly needs no defense from me, but I do want to say:
• A number of readers were kind enough to e-mail their approval of last issue's cover which featured the volunteers who had crossed a new threshold of volunteer hours on behalf of the Association during the 12 months before our annual meeting in 2000. The cover came off so well because of the efforts of Aaron Phipps, a member of the Western Michigan Chapter, whose imaging skills with Adobe Photoshop rescued some pretty" dismal originals.
"I have yet to meet anyone in the trail community"more dedicated to making our trail a quality-hiking experience, or more fiercely defensive, in a realistic manner, against encroachment from all sources other federal agencies, loggers, unmindful mountain bike riders, uncaring bureaucrats or anyone else who does not cherish our outdoor heritage." He has been accused, in fact, of being an overly protective steward whose occasional insistence that we follow the spirit and letter of the vision of our trail prevents certification of an otherwise attractive, or useful trail segment. My reaction on those occasions, even when momentarily annoyed at one of his decisions, was a feeling of gratitude that someone in our outfit kept our feet to the fire to maintain our vision and ideals. That's why the last paragraph of an otherwise thoughtful letter from a loyal North Country Trail member from Pennsylvania appearing on Page 37 deserves, I believe, some comment although the notion that an editor ought to have the last word when a reader dissents from the arguments made in article is foreign to the spirit of fair debate we hope to foster in the North Star. Kirk Johnson in his letter to the
North Star does pay tribute to Bill's dedication, but closes his letter by suggesting: "Finally, ADP (Allegheny Defense Project) recommends that when the NPS hires a new NCT Manager, the successful candidate should, rather than being a professional forester, be an outdoor recreation specialist with a strong interest in ecology or conservation biology."
By Werner Veit I want to assure Kirk that whatever the background of the new manager, we would be fortunate, indeed, if Bill's successor is as dedicated to achieving a quality-hiking experience for us as Bill has been. Despite my dismay at reading Kirk's closing sentence, it does not diminish the consideration the body of the letter deserves. It illustrates, also, my hope for the North Star, that it become a forum for the discussion of matters and events of importance to all of us. Kirk's generally restrained and useful dissent helps to carry us in that direction. Jerry Keeney, president of our Harbor Springs Chapter, also contributes to that goal in this issue. His description of logging problems on public lands around the segment of the North Country Trail his chapter maintains, provides a most useful follow-up to the questions
Luckily, we haven't heard the last of Aaron. He also created the images on this issue's cover and on Page 12 from original color slides by Mary Coffin from the Central New York Chapter. Aaron, a production manager at The Grand RaplJJ PreJJ, is an enthusiastic long distance hiker and superb photographer whose work, I hope, will appear with some regularity" in the North Star.
• I also want to express the appreciation of the Association to Judy Garnett, a member of the Chief Noonday Chapter, whose work with the North Star ends with this issue. Judy stepped in to produce the electronic files that go to the printer from my sometimes incoherent layouts and to create the clever graphics that have appeared in the magazine since last August. The modest stipend we were able to afford did not begin to compensate for the many hours she donated to the Association to help us achieve a lively journal and to get us started until we were able to make a more permanent arrangement.
"... We wou/J be fortunate ... if Bill Menke d successor ar1 dedicated to achieving a quality hiking experience for Ur1 aJ Bill baÂť been ... "
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