Charlotte T. Minor
October 17, 2007   [email]


Dear Access Board Members:

I am writing both as a professional landscape architect with the Forest Service and as an outdoor enthusiast.  Early in my career, I had the opportunity to attend a week long training session about accessibility.  Included in the session were many people with disabilities as well as able bodied people.  We spent a few days in a classroom setting, then spend four days camping, canoeing, cooking and living together in the backcountry of Minnesota.  This was the most enlightening experience I've ever had, and it highlighted to me the need to make guidance we develop for accessibility meet everyone’s needs.  By this I do not mean have everything the same.  I mean letting each person be able to choose the experience and level of activity that we can manage.  To acknowledge the differences between urban and rural settings, as well as those between a developed area and a dispersed or backcountry area.

In caring for my elderly parents, both of whom had mobility limitations as well as having vision impairments, I was well aware of the need to prepare differently for an urban setting or developed campground, versus a rural setting and “throw-down” camping area.  We enjoyed both activities together, but we all would have been sorely disappointed if the rural settings were as highly developed as the urban settings.  In the latter example, we were expecting rougher terrain, a campsite with limited facilities, walking across undeveloped ground to use a restroom, and having to choose hiking trails that met our needs.  We were seeking nature and know that natural environments are not flat or paved, and don’t have a clearing width that accommodates every user.  We wanted to make the choices, instead of having them made for us.

I am also voicing my support for the following technical items as they relate to the differences between the Access Board and the Forest Service Guidelines:

Thank you very much for your attention, and for the opportunity to comment on the guidelines.

Sincerely,

/Charlotte T. Minor/

[address]
Flagstaff, AZ  86001
[phone]