9 MONTHS!

No little ones are expected at Chez Snack, rather it's the amount of time that I have been working on trying to get a trail approved through my town's conservation commission and only to have it shot down this evening.  The funny thing is, it was the Conservation Commission that came to the Town's Trails Committee, which I am a member of, wanting us to build this trail.

9 MONTHS of hand holding the commission on trail walks.  Showing them examples of sustainable trails.  9 MONTHS of marking and remarking the proposed trail.  9 MONTHS of Commission meetings and listening to the NIMBYs argue how a trail is going to disturb the existing habitat.  That same habitat that they have no trouble dumping old tires, bottles, and construction waste on, yet claim that the trail will impact the habitat of the Eastern Box Turtle.  Excuse me, but there is trail already there - is it impacting the turtle's habitat?  

After two weeks of unprecedented rain, they base their decision on the fact that they feel the area in which the trail would traverse is too wet for a shared use.  The same area the existing trail goes through today, that by the way is still open to shared use.  Of course, the trail we were proposing would fix the issues that made the existing trail fraught with problems.

What's next?  Give up?  Hardly!  Time to set my sights on other areas.