This group of Penn State students, professors and Centre County residents spent their fourth meeting on a walk near the Centre County Technical School in Pleasant Gap -- amid tree stumps and sticks with orange flags marking the lines within which the new highway will fall.

"You have this sense of doom that your voice is a voice in the wilderness," said Barbara Anderson, director of the Penn State Center for Sustainability and assistant professor of science and technology classes.

Part of the highway will seize three acres of her property in Skytop.

"I think many people foresee what is going to happen and feel powerless," Anderson said. "You hardly ever hear what you will lose."

I-99 will be a 35-mile stretch of highway with 10 interchanges in the Centre Region. The four-lane highway, when completed, will connect the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Interstate 80. The last section is scheduled for completion by 2003.

The line of people meandered in the field, some walking ahead, others behind.

André Kuklik (graduate-conservation biology) said the walk is not really a protest of road construction, but a time for group members to acquaint themselves with the land and think about adjustments in the way of life for Centre County.

"We want to get people involved. You can't see it on a map. You have to get out and see those trees and see the landscape changing," he said, gesturing toward tree stumps in the distance.

When Kuklik came to look at this strip of land a few weeks ago, there were trees and brush. Now, most of the foliage falling between the orange markers has been chopped down. He shook his head.

"People are concerned about their loss of the rural atmosphere and their way of living," he said. "With I-99, there will be a lot of development coming into this region -- changing the landscape and the feeling of the landscape."

Craig Skipton, Centre Hall, said the environmental group formed due to the involvement of Penn State biology professor Christopher Uhl and Anderson's Science, Technology and Society class. Uhl was out of town and unable to attend the walk yesterday.

Skipton said the cold, dreary weather turned some walkers back sooner, but many continued the journey, walking distances greater than a mile and a half.

Although some group members said they were filled with sadness about the road construction, many said the walk provided a means to find an outlet for their feelings. Walking is the first step, said Alice Crawley (graduate-creative writing). The group members still plan to meet and express their opinions through writing and other means.