Outline I Introduction – The Metacomet Trail Page 2 II The Value of Natural Landscape Page 5 Our Attraction to Nature Page 6 Habitat Theory Page 9 Measuring Scenic Beauty Page 11 III Preserving Ridgeline Hiking Trails Page 15 Landowner Agreement Page 16 Local Conservation Plans Page 16 The Metacomet Compact Page 18 The Ridgeline Protection Act Page 19 Planning and Development Controls Page 21 Conservation Easements Page 23 Buying Land for Open Space Preservation Page 25 IV Conclusions – At the Frontier for Ridgeline Protection Page 26 References Page 28 Appendix A: Metacomet Ridge Conservation Compact Appendix B: Taconic Mountain Compact Appendix C: Connecticut Ridgeline Protection Act Appendix D: Subdivision Regulations, Simsbury, Connecticut 1 Since its discovery centuries ago, the United States mostly developed along natural landscape features – rivers, coastlines and valleys. Rocky outcrops and mountain ranges often divided and defined our communities. High ridges also served as inspiration to a region’s people. The emerging greenway movement has reminded us of the importance of natural and cultural connections. Miles of linear trails are being established along rivers and canals. Abandoned railroads have made ideal linkages between cities and towns. Although originally conceived as a means to control population sprawl along the eastern seaboard, the Appalachian Trail extends some 2,050 miles along a mountain chain from Maine to Georgia. While the Appalachian Trail serves a good example of what a grand vision and dollars from the federal government can accomplish, there are many opportunities to preserve and develop smaller, regional ridgeline trails such Metacomet Trail. This paper will describe the trail’s unique features, the importance of its natural landscape to a region’s inhabitants and examine some of the tools used to preserve hiking trails. I. The Metacomet Trail The Metacomet Trail in Connecticut follows a traprock ridge 51 miles from the Hanging Hills of Meriden to the Massachusetts border. South of Meriden the ridge continues to East Haven but the trail there is named the Mattabesset Trail. North of Meriden the ridgeline trail continues on to Northampton, Massachusetts, where it is known as the Metacomet/Monadnock Trail and ends at Mount Monadnock in Southern New Hampshire. 2 In Connecticut the Metacomet Trail was developed and is managed by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, the state’s oldest conservation group, founded in 1895. The Association maintains this trail with a cadre of volunteers as part of its 700- mile blue-blazed hiking trail system. Like most of the blue-blaze trails, the Metacomet traverses a wide assortment of landscapes. Private land ownership and roads do not allow for a scenic hiking path in all places. Sometimes the trail crosses busy roads, or follows the streets of subdivision where the distinctive blue trail markings are painted on telephone poles. Yet, the trail has been designed to follow the Metacomet Ridge as much as possible, with spectacular views from its highest peaks. Many miles of trail are on state park property and public water supply land. Good views are possible at elevations of 500 feet and above. Its highest peak is in Meriden at 1,024 feet. An even higher, 360-degree view is possible at 1,040 elevation from the Hueblein Tower in Simsbury (CT Walk Book, 1997, p.8-59). Although the basalt, or traprock, foundation of the Metacomet Ridge is the most common volcanic rock in the world, the ridgeline is very significant to the region. It defines the landscape horizon of the Connecticut River Valley. The Metacomet Ridge rises parallel to the valley, with a distinctly reddish orange hue. The western side is steep, with exposed columnar rock layers and little vegetation. The eastern side of the ridge always tilts downward and is gently sloping and forested. Geologists who have studied the Connecticut landscape for over a century believe they know the origins of the traprock ridges. They explain the earth’s crust is made up of huge plates of bedrock floating on a layer of molten magna. The plates continually move 3 and occasionally crash into each other forming mountains. Just as the plates bump into each other, they can move away as well. The central Connecticut River Valley was formed as part of the split when the North American and African plates pulled apart some 200 million years ago (Lee, 1985, p.12-13). Since then the land has been constantly changing from erosion, deposition of sediments and shifting climate, ranging from equatorial temperatures to the glaciating conditions of the Ice Age. The traprock ridges formed when hot magma from the earth’s interior erupted, flowed and cooled into rock when it reached the earth’s surface. Its distinct orange color on its surface is a form of rust that occurs from exposure to air (Bell, 1985, p.24). Although traprock is very hard and dense, it easily splinters. Long, columnar joints formed when the basalt shrank as it cooled. The joints are perpendicular to the ground and can be several yards wide. Frost gets into the joints and causes the exposed rock to break off, making a step-like pile of rocks, or talus, below. The name “traprock” came from the Swedish word for step, “trappa” (Lee, 1985, p.18). If the cracks and color are a trademark of Connecticut’s traprock ridges, its vegetation is harder to characterize. The ridge habitat can be cool, moist and protected as well as hot, dry and exposed. The falcate orange-tip butterfly (Anthocharis midea), common to the southeastern United States has only been spotted in Connecticut on traprock ridges. In contrast, species only found in the northern woods of Vermont and New Hampshire, such as American yew (Taxus candensis), thrive in the cool microclimate of the bottom talus. One side of the ridge may support ferns and other 4 moisture loving plants while the other side is desert-like, providing a home for patches of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifosa) (Lee, 1985, p.20-1,24). While the Metacomet Trail has special significance to Connecticut – culturally, ecologically, and geologically – the importance of a ridgeline trail to the region and measures taken to preserve it can be applied elsewhere. II. The Value of Natural Landscape The original settlers that came to America could not have imagined the vastness and richness of resources of the new land. Survival was their utmost concern. Cultivating the land, harnessing the rivers and later on building factories and industries enabled America to grow and prosper. By the 1800’s, as cities bulged with throngs of immigrants who came for a better life, a longing for the country became a common theme in art and literature. Writers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson extolled the virtues of nature. Hudson River School of artists Frederick Church and Thomas Cole painted romantic scenes of waterfalls, mountains and natural vistas. At mid-century Frederick Law Olmsted led a movement to build parks in many American cities. As the population exploded and moved westward, a desire to preserve the country’s diminishing wilderness sparked the formation of the National Park Service in 1872, with Yellowstone National Park as its first acquisition. So as a nation, Americans both exploited and revered nature. 5 Our Attraction to Nature In recent history there has been much research on how we prefer nature to a built environment. Environmental psychologists Rachel Kaplan found that people who were shown photos of intentionally ordinary natural scenes and scenes with mostly man-made features overwhelmingly chose nature scenes to urban views. (R. Kaplan, 1975, p.126). Even within the range of urban scenes, the most highly rated photos had the presence of small trees. The positive effect of nature has been illustrated in numerous studies. In the book, With People in Mind, the authors cite studies that conclude people returning from wilderness trips are more capable than others at a task that requires concentration. Hospital patients who had a window view had higher recovery rates. Office workers with a view of nature have higher job satisfaction, were less frustrated and had better health. Recovering cancer patients who were involved in nature activities three times a week made greater gains than a comparison group College students with views of natural settings from their dorm window did better on tasks demanding attention to detail (Kaplan et al, 1999, p.99). While these studies measure the positive affect of nature on people’s lives, they provide little explanation as to why that may be true or how we can assess the differences in quality from one natural scene to another. Our knowledge of whether humans shared common perceptions of the environment and, if they existed, could these perceptions be identified and measured became the focus of study by psychologists, landscape architects and planners. Ervin H. Zube, Robert O. Brush and Julius Gy. Fabos edited a publication in 1975 with 20 separate chapters, Landscape Assessment: Values, Perceptions and Resources. Multiple authors 6 offered theories and perspectives in a volume that could be considered a classic, as its depth has not been matched in 25 years. There has been evidence presented by neurological studies that our brain has neural patterns programmed within its cell structure that produce the same response to stimuli, regardless of nationality or culture. Human response to emotions and colors produce characteristic shapes when brain activity is measured (Greenbie,1975, p.69). While this may suggest that quality is a perceptual state that evokes common human response, Barrie Greenbie also illustrated how people can have diverse responses to the same environment. Greenbie participated in an experiment in which five different groups were asked to draw boundaries of perceived neighborhoods in Springfield, Massachusetts.