Lots of folks working to expand Maine woods economy

book coverThe 2016 “Maine Woods Destination Rally” was an interesting and informative event, featuring national speakers and lots of encouraging information about the rural/woods Maine economy. I took 9 pages of notes and could write a dozen columns about it, but here are some of the highlights.

Mike Wilson directs the Maine Woods Consortium, the sponsor of the event, and began by telling us about the Northern Forest Center, in which all of the Northeastern states work together to expand the rural economy. Mike noted that “infrastructure is important” as well as high quality experiences. This year they’ve launched the Maine Woods Discovery Tour, a collaborative media effort in four regions.

Carolann Ouellette gave us an overview of initiatives at the Maine Office of Tourism and introduced us to Donna Moreland, a new staffer who is working on destination and product development/experiences in support of developing Rural Destination Areas. We are blessed to have these two women leading the tourism office, and it’s especially exciting to have the very-experienced and savvy Donna Moreland in this new position which has been years in the making. Donna is working to create a team at the state government level to work on tourism initiatives. My hope is that the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will step up and participate actively in this initiative. Donna did report that the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry is a participant, as well as the Department of Transportation.

And speaking of the DOT, Fred Michaud updated us on their Scenic Byways and told us about a new initiative to create a biking trail all across northern and western Maine from Mattagamon to Sugarloaf. When Linda and I were in Arizona and Texas on a birding adventure in April, we were amazed by all the folks – young and old – who were biking there. A presentation from Bike Maine reinforced the focus on biking, reporting that there are one million potential biking tourists in New England. The group’s annual Bike Maine event – a 350 mile ride – delivered $448,000 in economic impact last year. I was pleased to hear that the group is working to create a permanent biking route and program in Hancock and Washington Counties, modeled on an Oregon program.

When Carolann was telling us about the importance of branding, I was thinking about the astonishing number of tourists who come to Maine to visit Acadia National Park. Throughout our three weeks in Arizona and Texas, I asked folks we met if they’d ever been to Maine. Many had, and nearly all had come here to visit Acadia.  One lady whose family was renting the house next to our rental in Terlingua, Texas, even arrived wearing an Acadia National Park tee-shirt. Yes, national parks are a brand and a tourist attraction. We were in Terlingua to enjoy our third trip to Big Bend National Park, our favorite.

Luke Muzzy of Weyerhauser updated us on Greenville’s branding initiative, an exciting project that, most recently, has brought WIFI to the downtown area, worked to put up directional signs, created downtown artisan packages, and more. Brian Wentzell of Appalachian Mountain Club gave an enthusiastic talk about AMC’s Maine Woods Initiative, which the organization launched in 2003. I’ve visited AMC’s Gorman-Chairback and Little Lyford sporting camps and can tell you that they offer a fantastic outdoor experience. AMC is currently rebuilding its Medawisla sporting camp which will open in 2017. I can’t wait! AMC has a 4-year grant from the Sewall Foundation to build trails, including biking trails, on their 70,000 acres of conservation lands just east of Greenville, where AMC’s properties have generated $40 million in local economic impact since this initiative was launched. Impressive!

Russell Walters, a co-owner of Northern Outdoors in the Forks, another of my favorite places, informed us about an interesting international effort, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, engaged in world-wide travel promotion. Russ is the President of the Association, which includes a sharing network of 1100 members in 19 countries. Wow!

Deborah Lewis, Founder and CEO of Bredeson Outdoor Adventures, gave a fascinating talk titled “What Makes a Marketable Travel Experience.” She organizes guided tours worldwide. Harry Dalgaard, Regional Investment Program Manager at Travel Oregon, told us about their impressive tourism program, designed to “empower communities to benefit from sustainable tourism development. I’ll write more about these two presentations a bit later.

 

As a lifelong sportsman and advocate for hunting and fishing, it was disappointing to hear nothing about hunting and fishing, just another indication that our favorite outdoor experiences are not seen as growth industries. And it’s hard to argue with that conclusion.

 

 

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.