To the editor:
Reflecting on the recent letters from neighbors opposing the trail building efforts at Palmer Woods, let’s put a few things in perspective. The desire to create multi-use recreational trails was a central driver of the preservation efforts for the land that has become the Palmer Woods Forest Reserve. These sorts of trails are a valid reason for land preservation in their own right, and forestalled the residential development that would inevitably occur. The trails themselves are incredibly low impact relative to the area they traverse and nearly all would be reconstituted into the forest if left unattended for just a few years. This land will never become a campground, will never host concessions, and will never become the 230 residential parcels that zoning would otherwise allow. As to the matter at hand, a gravel, 10-space parking lot to serve as a secondary access to this northerly section of trails is a safe, sensible alternative to riders parking on the road. As a father of two young boys and a volunteer head coach for the Norte mountain bike program hosted each spring and fall at Palmer Woods, I cannot overstate the value that this trail network brings to our community and to the young people we are raising here. While I’m sensitive to the increased traffic that the neighbors have experienced, let’s not lose sight of the fact that sometimes a little bit of change is exactly what’s necessary to prevent a whole lot of change.
Peter Fisher Cleveland Township
