With the rampant development in the Lake Martin area, you would think that some of it could be considered "good." Surely something good could come out of one small part of the destruction and construction; the odds almost demand it.

But for the past-- well, many-- years, bad development has ruled the day. Lots have been cleared when selective tree removal would have sufficed, and huge gaudy eyesores have been constructed when smaller, aesthetically pleasing buildings would have worked. Familiar old restaurants have "mysteriously" burned and been replaced by chain establishments, boats that belong on the ocean have made it nearly impossible for those with reasonable-sized boats to enjoy the lake, the stars have been dimmed by unnecessary streetlights, and dirt roads have been buried under asphalt.

But finally, the chain has been broken. It won't undo all of the bad that has been happening, but for the first time, there is actually a good new development to talk about.

The labors of the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail Association have finally borne fruit; eleven miles of hiking trails have recently been opened, and many more miles are planned. Most of the trails are accessed from the trailhead at Overlook Park, the scenic overlook near the dam; the trailhead for the more challenging Deadening Alpine Trail is near The Harbor. The trails are narrow footpaths and feature broad views of the lake, impressive boulders, rock walls, an abundance of animals, and many plants that you won't find anywhere else in central Alabama. This is the best thing to happen to the lake in a long, long time.

Of course, the land has always been there, and always been beautiful, but it was not always easily accessed. I hiked through these same woods many times when I was growing up, but those hikes always involved sticker bushes, chigger bites, and other unpleasantries that usually keep most people away. And I usually wasn't hiking for my health, but because I wanted to go where few had ever gone, see things that most had never seen, and hopefully find plenty of snakes, turtles and other critters who had the good sense to live somewhere that few people would ever go.

Hopefully, the Cherokee Ridge trails are no longer a place where few people will go; they are far too spectacular to be ignored. The trail system is the brainchild of Eclectic's Jim Lanier; in February 2004 he and some friends met and founded CRATA, and soon after the group was incorporated as a non-profit organization. They got permission from Alabama Power to create these trails on land that had been set aside as "natural-undeveloped."

"Creating a trail" is harder than it sounds; hundreds of man-hours went into making the narrow single-track footpaths accessible. In many places streams cut across the trail, requiring the construction of bridges that had to be sturdy and functional, while looking as natural as possible. In one case heavy timbers from an old bridge were floated to a nearby shoreline, hauled up the steep bank, and set in place with concrete that had been hauled to the site in backpacks. There were probably easier options available, but these trails aren't about doing things the easy way; instead, it's all about doing things the right way.

Hiking the trails, one would almost think that they were simply following a game trail, maybe a path that the deer wore through the woods as they foraged. In many places that's exactly what is happening, though limbs and underbrush had to be removed from most of the footpath, and a careful observer will notice areas where rocks have been carefully placed to shore up the trail, yet without looking as if they were placed there by man. But that's one of the points of the trail system; as it says at www.crata.org: "The trails are built to blend into nature, free of bicycles, motorized vehicles, horses or other pack animals.  All signs to mark trail transitions are made of natural unpainted wood with the smallest footprint possible on this unique alpine area."

The loving care it took to create these trails was hammered home even more not long ago, when another "nature trail" was constructed in the Lake Martin area. This time there was no careful planning, no loving respect for the plants and animals that would be affected. For this other trail, someone simply cranked up a bulldozer, and started wrecking the woods, knocking down trees and crushing small animals for several miles. Left behind were piles of dead trees, mounds of mud, once-beautiful streams that now flow through culverts, and a scar on the landscape that will only get worse when it is paved. This was a case of someone having the choice between doing something the easy way, and doing it the right way… and choosing the easy way. Unfortunately, that has become the all-too-common choice around here.

Isn't it amazing how much difference there is between loving the land for what it is and what it can be, and loving the land only for what you can get from it? In the end, the difference comes down to one word: respect. Jim Lanier and the members of the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail Association respect the land; too bad more people don't feel the same way.

More information about CRATA can be found at www.crata.org.