I would not want the natural trails in Lester, Piedmont, Chester, and Hartley parks to be paved.  The world needs natural parks that aren't so developed.  That is why most of the trails at Yellowstone are not paved.  Paving would take away from the parks' natural beauty.

No matter what is paved, we will probably leave many of the trails in Lester, Piedmont, Chester, and Hartley unpaved.  We cannot pave them all.  Some trails will need to be left natural no matter what.  We cannot make all of Duluth accessible to everyone.

If we pave the trails, then the trails become more like the lakewalk, with more racing bicycles and inline skaters blowing past families walking the trail.  We need some space to get away from all that.

We already have miles of paved trails in Duluth and Superior, and many accessible parks all over.  We do not need to spend millions of dollars creating and maintaining more paved trails when the natural trails are good for most people anyway.  We should spend that money maintaining the parks and trails we already have.

Is this a general idea that the city of Duluth should pave the natural trails in the major city parks like Lester, Piedmont, Chester, and Hartley?  It seems that any reason to pave Hartley would also be a reason to pave to at least many of the other parks in Duluth.

Two experts can listen to the same things and come to opposite conclusions.  Two experts can take into consideration the same natural/historical design of the park, resident preferences and concerns, etc., and come to opposite conclusions. So the fact that experts are doing this stuff could mean anything.  It could go either way, depending on the experts involved.  

Many of the current city park experts are experts in city parks.  City parks in most cities are paved parks (with gazebos, swing sets, etc.).  Most city park experts are not experts in unpaved natural parks.  

Experts like what they know, and many of the experts in this case know paved parks.  If all the experts involved came from the national park service, we would have a very different outcome, since those experts are not so into paving their parks.  This is what makes national parks distinct and unique places to visit.

Most city parks in the United States are paved parks.  City park experts will generally want our parks to be like the Lakewalk, Enger, Bayfront, Chester, Portland Square, etc., paved with city park entertainments.  It is good to have some parks like this.  However, we have some special natural parks that are not like other cities' parks.  

Natural parks like Hartley, Lester, Piedmont, Magney-Snively, and parts of Park Point are unique to Duluth.  Turning these natural treasures into regular city parks is to make Duluth like any other city.  It would change the character of the city.  I think that experts in paved city parks should keep their hands off our natural parks that make Duluth so amazing.  In this case, less is more.