I understand the environmental side, yet I am handicapped and therefore would not be able to manage walking through an area with vines and roots. I have MS (multiple sclerosis) and use a cane for balance so falling would be more likely without some type of clearing (paved or not). Friends with wheelchairs would not be allowed access at all.

Without a maneuverable access, you might as well have a sign out that says "No Handicapped Allowed." Can you imagine the kind of reaction if you did that to gays, African-Americans, Jews or other minorities? So why is it acceptable to say that about the disabled? I have been treated as a second-class citizen innumerable times. Others say the same.

So, I would suggest that the two sides get together and provide some kind of compromise. In my own yard, I have changed my grass into woods over the years, planted trees, let native trees come up. Birds (along with other animals) now flock to my yard as never before. I have provided my own little refuge for the many homeless animals. I have mowed minimally to enable walking through the trees and allow a wheelchair.

So why can't we all start in our own backyard and then come up with a compromise. Skip the biking, rollerblading and other non essentials, just make it accessible to the disabled and save the environment at the same time. Start in your own backyard.

Debbie L. Nichols

Chapel Hill