they might have dropped the ball again

[kitester]

Well, as most of you know, I am a proponent of public access and a firm believer in coexistence with our natural environment. I do not see the two as mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, the fight over public access and the environmental lobby's efforts to remove it continues to boil.

I got a call from a friend of mine yesterday. He was so mad he could hardly talk. He was driving north on A1A to a meeting in Fernandina when he came upon the newly begun construction (read destruction) taking place in the wooded land between the ocean and the road. With bull dozers a wide swath of land was being cleared as if for a new highway. "Old growth oaks and previously undisturbed natural land have been cleared away", he said. "Its all torn up".

I believe what he was referring to was the new bike rout that will link Ft. George Island and Fernandina. They have been talking about it for years and the idea seemed innocent enough. I mean what kind of damage or harm could a bike trail cause? I had envisioned a narrow, winding path a few feet wide with oak bows hanging over them. In the end that may be the result.

What strikes me as odd is that the people who struggled so long and so hard to secure Talbot Island as a natural refuge all those years ago seem to be silent on the issue. While we have to fight to keep already existing public recreational areas open for our community to continue to enjoy, a new facility is tearing right through the heart of a pristine wood. I would like to know what the Audubon and Sierra Club think about that. The local Audubon's pride and joy now has a deep scar running through it. I feel for all the people who sought the quiet, undisturbed woods and the natural Florida that once was so close to home. Why does the environmental lobby point an accusing finger and threaten our access in one place and ignore real damage in another?   

I also wonder where the money is coming from to build this. In this economy we scratch to keep every public access and resource open for all. And yet here is a facility that will be fantastic for the biking public but may not hold much value for the rest of our community. Now don't get me wrong. I ride a bike now and again myself. I probably will not find myself doing a 20 mile stretch in the near future. Is this really the right time or the right place or the right way to build this trail? How will the cost be recouped? Is the trail privately funded or does this money come from the taxpayer?

I have not been to see the area in question myself but I will travel up there in a day or so. I hope the damage is not so terrible as my friend says. I will put what I see here, but I would think anyone who gives a damn should go and look for yourselves.