Dear Editor,

In the 513,000 acres of the Allegheny National Forest (ANF), nearly 10,000 on Tracy Ridge are among the most suitable for wilderness designation by the U.S. Congress. A 2006 U.S. Forest Service study was completed confirming this. The proposed bicycle use for the Tracy Ridge hiking trails would jeopardize the process by encouraging a land use that is incompatible with the Wilderness Act, which has been federal law since 1964.

The ANF is the only national forest within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Astronauts have commented on the fragile beauty of Earth as seen from their deep space travel. The ANF is only a grain of sand from that distance, but to me it represents security.

Humankind’s pursuits in the last century led to the creation of tools that explain life, but also tools to extinguish it. An array of choices come at us with dizzying speed each day. Wilderness, to the contrary, ages at its own pace. Through continuous natural selection, unbelievable outcomes take place. Protected from deliberate human intervention, life is apt to evolve in a more sustainable direction. The study of nature gives us a glimpse into a complex, collective wisdom.

Inspired by wilderness, my hope is that by taking time to reason, we will make better choices. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “for nature beats in perfect time.”

Although I can’t walk the paths as I used to, I feel the ‘beat’ in knowing that these critical places are there for us and for future generations. Perhaps the goodwill and generosity that it takes to dedicate this land to the laws of nature will buy us a little more time on our beautiful planet.

Sincerely,

Ronald Simonsen, M.D.

Board of Directors, Friends of Allegheny Wilderness,

Warren