By Jordan Bowman
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
December 29, 2020
2021 marks the 100-year anniversary of the publication of Benton MacKaye’s groundbreaking article, “An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning.” After a century, MacKaye’s original vision continues to inspire and guide us at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC).
MacKaye’s article was ambitious, speaking of the Trail not only as a project in land conservation, but as a way for all human beings to find solace, optimism, and rejuvenation during a time of “general upheaval,” including the economic strife following World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic. MacKaye wrote:
“Two weeks spent in the real open — right now, this year and next — would be a little real living for thousands of people which they would be sure of getting before they died.”
As MacKaye presented it, the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) would be “a new approach to the problem of living,” providing opportunities not only for recreation, but also for health, recuperation, and connections with nature in an increasingly industrialized world.