「路是人的腳跡走出來的，而慢慢形成的路跡是最美的。...一條不經大興土木，就能串連起台灣各地美麗風光千里步道。路網經過的地方會帶來商機…。」
“Trails are created by our footprints and slowly formed trails are the most beautiful. Without major construction work, the Thousand-Mile Trail connects beautiful scenes throughout Taiwan. The network of trails will create business opportunities...”
一位數學專家，卻自1970年代開始推動台灣環境教育改革。他是現年已82歲、前台大數學系教授——黃武雄，致力保護台灣山海風光與人文之美，至今已十個年頭。
Despite being a mathematician, he has been promoting the reform of environmental education in Taiwan since the 1970s. He is Wu-hsiung Huang, an 82-year-old former mathematics professor at National Taiwan University, who over the past decade has been dedicated to protecting the beauty of Taiwan’s scenery and humanism.
2005年，黃武雄寫了一篇「夢想一條環島的千里步道」，當時不斷被轉寄，這是「千里步道」四個字第一次出現。千里步道是一場由下而上，強調環境與內在價值，呼籲親近自然、重建大地倫理的公民運動。從雙腳行走與單騎的慢速行旅開始，歷經五年奮鬥與堅持，於2010年串連出一條近三千公里、無斷點的環台千里步道。透過志工以手作方式、就地取材的簡單工具，以符合環境及在地文史特色的工法，來維護及修復步道，使得步道學成為新世紀顯學。如今，千里已經不只是一條步道，而是「千里佈道」，黃武雄激發出無數人的愛台熱魂，讓千里步道昇華為一種生活態度和價值。未來，黃武雄期望匯聚在地與民間，串連成一股堅固且綿密的力量，上接最具資源的官方共同參與，達成環境復興、生態復育與文化保護的目標。
In 2005, Huang wrote an article “Dreaming about a thousand-mile trail that leads you around the island,” which was forwarded repeatedly at that time, and it was the first mention of the term “Thousand-Mile Trail.” The Thousand-Mile Trail is a bottom-up social movement that emphasizes the environment and inner values and calls for getting close to nature and rebuilding the land ethic. Starting with slow trips on foot or on a bike, through five years of efforts and perseverance, Huang had blazed a consecutive trail that extended up to nearly three thousand kilometers by 2010. The maintenance of the trail is done by volunteers with their hands and simple tools made from locally sourced materials via the method of construction that corresponds to the environment and local culture and history. Such trail science or “trailology” has become a prominent field of study in the 21st century. Now, the Thousand-Mile Trail is more than a trail. Huang has inspired innumerable patriotic souls and elevated the physical trail into a kind of attitude and values. As for the future, Huang is looking to integrate the local community and civil society to form a steadfast and concentrated force, and also bring in the government and its abundant resources in an attempt to achieve environmental recovery, ecological restoration, and cultural preservation.
