Letter: More people should help clean

I don’t know them, and I don’t often hike some of the trails mentioned in the article (“Couple keeps trails clean,) Jan. 31, but I thank Peter and Ann Harrison for their work maintaining trails in the area. To have done it for so long is especially commendable.

As a constant user of trails, on both public and private property, I try to make it a habit to at least clear loose branches. I generally have a couple dogs with me, so it’s not practical to carry tools, but the vast majority of clearing trails is simply moving branches. And not enough people do this.

The same applies to the roads. My neighbor is the only other person I’ve seen stop his vehicle to move a branch in the road. There was a branch sticking out into the road near my house last spring or summer. I left it on purpose to see if anyone would move it. It was certainly light enough. Cars had to swerve to avoid it, and walkers would have to walk around it. It took a few weeks, and the town coming by on their annual brush-mowing trip, for it to get moved.

We’re all stewards of the lands we use, whether recreationally or for travel. It’s not “someone else’s job.” It’s not fair to leave it to the Harrisons of the world to take care of these things. They pleaded for others to join them. I hope they get them, and I hope they get a crop of younger people to carry on. I cannot join them, but I do what I can in my own way. I donate to a charity whose tagline is “If not me, then who?” Be like Peter and Ann Harrison.

Rick Villaume

Peterborough 

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