The state of Maine recently hired FERMATA, a firm that focuses on environmentally-friendly tourism, to find ways to bring more people to the area. Gov. John Baldacci says:
"Tapping into new tourism markets will enable us to use the unique beauty of our landscape to bring new dollars into the state and help Maine’s rural communities diversify their local economies."
FERMATA recommendations include emphasizing "vacation packages that will draw smaller crowds to activities that won’t hurt the landscape". Also,
Within each region, the report identifies wildlife sanctuaries, state parks, streams, trails, museums and historical societies that should be highlighted as part of tourism promotion. It even suggests having tourism officials all use the same theme: The Maine Woods Experience.
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This reminds me of a great article that appeared in the National Parks magazing a while ago about Maine’s Acadia National park, and the proof that the park (aside from it’s natural beauty) is, in fact, worth more in it’s current state in pure economic terms, than if they cut down and sold every single tree.
Check out the article here:
http://www.npca.org/magazine/2003/may_june/forum.asp
September 19th, 2005 at 5:09 pm
Nick, to your point, another article showing that our investment in nature, such as with trees or even coral reefs, pays off.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050914/sc_nm/environment_costs_dc_2
September 26th, 2005 at 11:05 am