Comment EI-18349
Received or sent (printed as 9/28/2010)
Danielle Gosselin Section of Environmental Analysis Dear Ms. Gosselin, The Keystone Trails Association would like to comment on Environmental Filing FD 35116 concerning a proposed rail line. The Keystone Trails Association is the statewide voice of Pennsylvania’s hikers. A recent survey found that 3.5 million Pennsylvanians consider themselves hikers. Last year over 3,000 volunteer trail builders donated over 30,000 hours of their time and labor to Pennsylvania hiking trails. To learn more about the Keystone Trails Association please visit www.kta-hike.org. I am writing to you today about the negative impact of a proposed rail line to a land fill within view of the 40 mile long Allegheny Front Trail. The Allegheny Front Trail, a relatively new trail in western Centre County, Pennsylvania, was built collaboratively in the late 1990’s by Penn State Outing Club, Ridge and Valley Outing Club, Quehanna Area Trails Club and the Keystone Trails Association, the umbrella group fro trail maintainers. Today it is enjoyed by vast numbers of hikers annually for its pristine beauty. The trail provides a wide variety of forest environments, including views over valleys to the east, trout streams, and marshlands. What it does not include is a view over a landfill and a rail line delivering trash. If the proposed rail line is approved, the Allegheny Front Trail will lose its scenic and wilderness characteristics. The rail line moving unknown numbers of trains daily filled with mountains of garbage daily poses a threat of incalculable consequences to the trail. Who will want to hike the Allegheny Front Trail in future years when it becomes basically a landfill train trail hike? The answer is no one. Vast sums of tourist dollars will be lost. Hikers who now provide green economic development opportunities to nearby communities will visit more pristine trails. Additionally many people volunteered their time and labor to build this trail only 20 years ago in the belief that they were creating a scenic trail that would be enjoyed for generations. It is almost unbelievable that in the space of a single generation it may be lost forever. If the trash trains were in operation, a hiker could actually “walk with the train”. The railroad tracks, the Red Moshannon Creek and the Allegheny Front Trail, are all parallel to each other for about 2 or 3 miles. If the proposed rail line is approved the Allegheny Front Trail will lose its scenic and wilderness qualities. These qualities are vital to the success of the trail. Noise, odor and the loss of scenic vistas will kill this trail. Unique trails, such as the Allegheny Front Trail, are sought by hikers for their remoteness and solitude specifically to escape civilization. This is not an urban neighborhood running oval. The Allegheny Front Trail’s widerness characteristics must be preserved, including the vistas, in order for the trail to maintain support and attract hikers. It is not merely a want for many, it is a psychological need, a calling, to escape civilization, which the Alleghency Front Trails qualities provide. The Keystone Trails Association strongly urges you to deny this permit. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Curt Ashenfelter Executive Director Keystone Trails Association 717 238 7017
Submitted by: Curt Ashenfelter · Keystone Trails Association · Harrisburg, PA
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-35116/comment/EI-18349 · back to the docket sheet