The bike-hike paths were intended from the very beginning to be a greenway along our mighty rivers for the use of pedestrians - cyclists, skiers, walkers, in-line skaters and other non-motorized means.
As greenways, the bike-hike paths along the Erie Canal, the Mohawk and the Hudson rivers, are protecting a unique environment and support non-polluting use. Snow machines pollute, with their noise, their exhaust, their degradation of the trail and vegetation along the trail.
Snow machines have thousands of miles of trails in this state for their use. As cyclists, skiers and walkers, we are asking for a few hundred miles statewide for our use. This is not an unreasonable request.
HOWARD B. HALSTEAD
Schenectady
The writer is president of Friends of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail.