Editor:

I am a recreational cyclist. A couple of times a week I ride back and forth on the trail that begins near the skate park on Sunset, passes through Arcata and the marsh and ends beside the bay near Bracut. It's a delightful ride as many of us know. A couple of times I have continued along the freeway shoulder to Eureka where I have enjoyed the wonderful new trail system found there. I am eager for the link between the Arcata and Eureka trails to be completed but I strongly oppose cutting 219 Eucalyptus trees to accomplish this.

In addressing the problem, county staff seems to have spent most of its time searching the globe not for solutions but for tree-related casualties. Their collective "snit" reminds one of the 6 year old who insists he will take his ball and go home if we won't play the game according to his rules. In the nearly 20 years that I have lived in Arcata I have seen hundreds if not thousands of cyclists travel beneath these trees and we will continue to do so if the trail is not completed. So, save the Eucalyptus. Complete the rest of the link and let us ride the shoulder or the railroad track for that quarter mile or so. It's not just about preserving the trees, of course. It is also about saving that small part of ourselves still capable of respecting those aspects of the world that appear to exist separate and apart from ourselves.

Doug Ingold, Arcata