Open letter to Whitewater Township

Originally submitted to three publications and the Township Clerk. Withdrawn from one and adapted into the two versions presented below after editors expressed exclusivity concerns.

Open letter to Whitewater Township

Having eagerly anticipated the reopening of Lossie Road Nature Trail, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Whitewater Township Board of Trustees and Parks and Recreation Commission for seeing to the project. Many downed trees had to be cleared in difficult, wetland terrain.

After jogging the trail several times, I have encountered a couple areas near the west end of the trail that are flooded in most weather conditions and one small tree is down across the trail (A). The trail remains accessible to hikers and runners, if typically soggy.

Of more immediate concern is an area not far from the eastern trailhead (B). There, someone seems to have placed rifle targets on the south side of the trail, across from an open field on the north side of the trail.

I can hardly imagine a less welcoming entrance to a public trail than one with an overt display suggesting firearms are regularly discharged directly across it.

-[WobblyReporter]

Running for my life?

I would like to thank the Whitewater Township Board of Trustees and Parks and Recreation Commission for their work to reopen Lossie Road Nature Trail. The three miles trail along the southwestern coast of Elk Lake are an enchanting path through dense wetlands. Extreme winds in the summer of 2021 brought down trees and made the trail impassable for some time.

Having jogged the length of the trail twice so far this season, I encourage the Township to continue its discussions around possible improvements to signage and to frequently flooded sections of trail not far from the west trailhead.

More urgently, I would like the situation near the east trailhead addressed, where someone seems to have positioned rifle targets on the south side of the trail across from an open field and shed structure on the north side. Between the live gun range display and the tree felled across the trail just inside the entrance, one might conclude that this public trail could be more inviting and welcoming to the public at its east end.

-[WobblyReporter]