Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Bobcat loader crossing trail walking bridge over Scull Creek on October 17, 2008.
Solution to environmental damage is to keep trails outside the riparian zone of all streams in the city. A wide buffer of trees or other existing vegetation should be maintained between streams and trails. Red dirt should be allowed only BENEATH the area to be paved and not a single stone or red particle should be allowed outside that limit. No fill material or soil removed from the site or any vegetation removed from the area to be paved should be moved toward the tree.
Decreasing tree canopy over the streams increases summer water temperature and decreases native life in the streams. Simultaneously, the removal of any vegetation increases potential global warming, especially the kind felt by living things (including human beings) in the immediate area. Environmental damage in stream corridors DECREASES the city's credibility as a "center of sustainability" and makes the city's attempts to enforce stormwater regulations and tree-protection rules on developers appear to be hypocritical.
No heavy machinery ( Bobcat machines make destroying the environment too easy )
should be involved in trail construction when more traditional even if more labor-intensive methods can do the job.
Stream corridors are the only wildlife corridors in many parts of our city. Stream riparian zones are the only places native plants can be readily found in parts of our city. Stream corridors should be respected for their many environmental and aesthetic values. The scene in the photo above was totally different a few months ago. The scene would have been a solid line of trees along a beautiful stream. It was a spot where nature ruled unfettered. Now it has been tamed by men and machines and may never be as valuable again. Its destruction was unnecessary.
Trails are built with much more respect for soil, water, air and wildlife in many cities.
The quick way seldom is the best way. To paraphrase something Lioneld Jordan has said, "Do the job right the first time and you have to do it only once."
Links to bids received by city of Fayetteville for bridges for city trail system appear below:
http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/purchasing/documents/bid_tabulations/Bid_Tab_08-15,_Scull_Creek_Trail_Bridges_-_Equipme.pdf
Cost of Fayetteville creek bridges reasonable for trail construction
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3 comments:
The real cause of Global Warming is ... the development of bike trails! Thanks aubunique for having that clarified. It appears that some self-styled environmentalists have become mere cynics.
So bike trails shouldn't be built with modern machinery? That's a great idea because that way, you make sure that highways will always be built but bike trails will not. And I trust that you don't own a car. You know, you can always get anywhere by foot, it may take longer but it is possible.
You are making a fool of yourself and it is sad to watch this. By the way, Lioneld Jordan seemed to be eager enough to take part in the the ribbon cutting cceremony, and I haven't heard him say that the next trail should be built with shovels and muscle power.
Piglet, you don't read all that well and you can't see the pictures. Or you don't understand what you are seeing.
Aubunique is pointing that the trail system is being built too near the streams, which is clearly true if you look closely at the pictures. Those trees buried along the trails will die.
Aubunique isn't against building trails. But he clearly points out that building in the riparian zone is wrong.
I went to the trail celebration and it was clearly planned to tout Coody. He couldn't keep aldermen from attending. But you can't bet he didn't offer Lioneld a ride to make sure he got there. Lioneld works hard at a REAL job and gives his responsibility on the council as many hours as any alderman, and probably double what some give.
Coody's only job for eight years has been to make sure everything was done right. Because he doesn't really understand environmental matters, he allowed the trails to built in ways that were often not environmentally friendly.
Coody came by bike, maybe that's why he couldn't offer Jordan a ride? I was at the opening (by bike, mind you, the way I always go about in Fayetteville) and I can recognize your attacks as the bullshit they are. Why didn't anybody, whether aubunique or Jordan or you anonymous poster, raise this issue during the plannign of the trail, if it was an issue?
Have you ever heard of the perfect being the enemy of the good? "It was a spot where nature ruled unfettered." That is certainly not true. For one thing, you can find trash everywhere along these creeks. There are apartment buildings close by, you think they don't have an impact? This is a city, not a wilderness preserve. This trail will give countless people the opportunity to enjoy nature in a way that is rare in a city. And it will allow them to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle, which is only possible because the trail has been paved.
To experience "unfetterd nature", you have to go elsewhere. If it is possible at all. But if you denigrate and oppose bike trails on account that they are paved, the only "success" you will have is more environmental destruction. Concentrate your energy on preventing more highways being built.
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