Appalachian Trail’s Rerouting Disputed

The federal government’s efforts to relocate the Appalachian Trail as it crosses the Cumberland Valley have exploded in a dispute that pits farmers against hikers, landowners against the National Park Service.

The Park Service wants to move a 15-mile section of the trail because it does nothing more than follow two- and four-lane roads, nearly all lacking side paths on which hikers can walk.

Hiking interests are trying to persuade the Park Service to relocate the trail to follow two low ridges, part of the few remaining wooded areas in the steadily developing valley.

‘A Land Grab’

Fearing the land acquisition, landowners along the proposed new route are fighting to keep the trail where it is, with the addition of dirt sidewalks.

Arlene Byers is president of Citizens Against a New Trail. She and her husband, Galen, have a 120-acre farm along the ridges.

“It amounts to a land grab by the Park Service,” Byers says. “I don’t want to be told that a couple of hiking clubs can decide what is going to be done with my livelihood.”

The trail’s path from South Mountain to Blue Mountain across the Cumberland Valley in south central Pennsylvania is the longest valley crossing and the longest road walk along the 2,100-mile footpath, which runs from Georgia to Maine.

The valley trail passes farmland, trailer parks, modern housing developments and the “Why Not” Restaurant truck stop. It also cuts through tiny Churchtown.

7-Year Controversy

The relocation controversy began in 1978, when President Carter signed legislation authorizing the Park Service to spend up to $90 million to acquire a corridor of land along the trail to protect it.

The legislation was sparked by the increasing number of road walks along the footpath and the fear of development’s causing further damage to the scenic quality of the trail.

After trying but failing from 1978 through 1980 to relocate the Cumberland Valley section, the Park Service turned its attention to other, less controversial sections of the footpath.

Now, with 83% of the trail protected, the agency has refocused on the valley.

Narrowing Choices

In late January, the Park Service issued a statement that narrowed the choices to the sidewalk plan and the ridge route, and one or the other would be chosen--possibly this year.

In one environmental assessment, the Park Service estimated that the ridge route would eliminate more than 10 miles of road walk but could affect 143 landowners and remove nearly 54 acres of property from agricultural use.

Don Peak, the owner of 17 acres along the proposed ridge route, added: “As far as I’m concerned, they’re taking something out of my life for a special interest group.”

Other opponents of the relocation, including the state Legislature, which passed a pro-sidewalk resolution in late 1984, argued that the new trail would be a barrier to further development in the valley.

Land Acquisition Feared

One farmer, who asked not to be identified, said he fears the acquisition of land he is planning to sell for a housing development to finance his retirement. “Some day I would like to quit doing this,” he said.

The Appalachian Trail Conference, based in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., is a private, nonprofit organization that works with other smaller hiking groups and the Park Service to maintain the trail.

Larry Van Meter, the executive director of the ATC, said his group favors the ridge relocation chiefly because the roadwalk lacks the scenic quality associated with the Appalachian Trail.

“We expect the quality of the (road) route to deteriorate further,” Van Meter said. ‘Many of those views which are now pleas ant will continue to be subdivided (into housing developments).”

A Boon for Residents

He added that the ridge relocation would be as much a boon for local residents as it would be for the estimated 1,000 long-distance hikers who cross the valley annually.

“With the Park Service land acquisition comes the assurance of permanent conservation of the area through which the trail passes,” he says. “If development continues, that will be important for the residents.”

Other supporters of the ridge route argue that no landowners will be forced from their homes and property owners will receive fair market values for land or easements acquired.

Dave Ritchie is the Park Service’s project manager for the Appalachian Trail. He also is based in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Asked whether the Cumberland Valley roadwalk is the most controversial section along the trail, Ritchie says, “I don’t know of anything else that comes close.”

He says the trail’s path through the valley may be the last section of the footpath protected under the Carter initiative. “This is one of the few places where we don’t know what the outcome will be.”