Regional Collaboration for Natural Heritage Tourism on the Lower Mississippi River

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1 Regional Collaboration for Natural Heritage Tourism on the Lower Mississippi River Alan W. Barton Ashford University G. Reid Bishop Belhaven University

2 Project Summary The Mississippi River Field Institute was a National Audubon Society program based in Vicksburg, MS (through Dec. 2011) Unsung River is a report produced by the MRFI, which proposed a definition for a Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV) Natural Heritage Corridor Report draws on four case studies to illustrate the feasibility of natural heritage tourism as a community development strategy in the LMRV Case studies represent three different community types, with different strategies for promoting tourism Partnerships are fundamental parts of each case study, but regional coordination is lacking

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4 Mississippi River In 2001, the Memphis Chamber of Commerce hired a consultant do a big regional plan that involved Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. And in the development of the plan they realized that the greatest natural resource is the Mississippi River and nobody was doing anything with it. Everyone had just taken it for granted, a lot of it is because of access. It s hard to get to in a lot of the counties, and the number one problem is everyone s afraid of it. There s a huge fear factor. ~Memphis Tourism Development Professional

5 The Mississippi River: Unloved or Underdeveloped? Why is visitation so low to the Lower Mississippi River for natural heritage tourism? (1) Lack of infrastructure Few visitors centers, signage, guidebooks or other sources of information for visitors Few outfitters or sources of equipment for visitors (2) Environmental conditions Heat, humidity, damp winters, mosquitoes Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes (3) Public lands are underfunded, access is often difficult, requiring permits that visitors from outside the region have trouble getting (4) Basic necessities (food, lodging, gas) are scarce for large stretches along the river (5) Competing economic interests (agriculture, transportation, levee boards) have created a climate that discourages tourism

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7 Tourism to the LMRV: Community Types Gateway Communities Large cities w/ significant transportation infrastructure Points of arrival for tourists, starting point for land travel Examples: Memphis, Baton Rouge, Little Rock Anchor Communities Towns/cities w/ tourism amenities such as food & lodging Locations where tourists spend nights & visit attractions Examples: Dyersburg, TN; Vicksburg, MS; Natchez, MS Host Communities Towns near tourism attractions (e.g. nat. wildlife refuges) Few facilities for tourists (e.g. restaurants, lodging) Tourists pass through, rarely stay overnight Examples: Rolling Fork, MS; Tallulah, LA; DeWitt, AR

8 Memphis, Tennessee Gateway Community Tourism is an engine of economic growth and land conservation Natural heritage tourism focuses on the Mississippi River and the counties adjacent to the river, north of Memphis Mississippi River at Memphis Beale Street Graceland

9 Memphis, Tennessee Gateway Community We focus on exposure. We want to expose people to the varied and amazing resources we ve identified. The more you re in the environment, the more you re out in the park, on trails or whatever, and maybe, hopefully, you ll get to where you say, Gosh, I really want to maintain this. I want to do whatever it takes. ~Memphis Tourism Director

10 Monroe/Northeast Louisiana Gateway Community Tourism promotes education, engagement, partnerships and nature conservation for local residents Natural heritage tourism focuses on public lands, community education, and heritage trails Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge LSU Hill Farm Research Station

11 Monroe/Northeast Louisiana Gateway Community My work at the LSU AgCenter focuses on agritourism and naturebased tourism. Our goal is to take the lands in the alluvial valley that are primarily agricultural and teach landowners engaged in traditional farming how they can earn an alternative income, through paddling. Defining paddling trails coordinates our efforts, as we urge folks to get out on the water, paddle and develop healthy lifestyles, a mission of LSU AgCenter. ~LSU Extension Agent When people come out here and look around, they say, this place is nice! And I tell them, this is our Friends group, they re local and they have supported us financially to get this stuff done. ~U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Agent We ve partnered with companies, with civic groups for example, some of our visitor center was outfitted by the Junior League. It s not what you would think of as a natural partnership, but we work with whoever will work with us, then we give them all kinds of recognition. ~National Wildlife Refuge Friends Group Leader

12 Helena, Arkansas Gateway Community Tourism unites the community and provides educational benefits to locals Natural heritage tourism focuses on the Mississippi River waterfront, nearby public lands, outdoor recreation and education Downtown Helena Helena River Park St. Francis National Forest

13 Helena, Arkansas Gateway Community For the past 3 years we ve been working with the KIPP middle school on a canoe carving project. We went paddling on the river with groups of middle school students, and they re the first school in the area that hasn t been afraid to get their kids out on the scary Mississippi River. ~Paddling Guide We took the KIPP students to the Helena River Park and used the kiosk map to discuss outdoor destinations. Then they paddled the Mississippi with Quapaw Canoe, they visited the Louisiana Purchase and Delta Heritage Trail State Parks and the St. Francis National Forest, and they learned to use field tools like guidebooks and binoculars and they also prepared journals. The did a survey in the national forest, listing native species. The students were challenged to look at their region, and think about the potential for tourism and for education. ~Environmental Education Specialist

14 Rolling Fork, Mississippi Host Community Tourism is a route to community cohesion & development Natural heritage tourism focuses on nearby public lands, an annual Great Delta Bear Affair festival, and agritourism Rolling Fork Visitors Center Great Delta Bear Affair

15 Rolling Fork, Mississippi Host Community When we first started getting community volunteers together, we had a meeting Partners in Progress, that s what we called it. We developed a plan to paint the downtown, to make it look a lot better. I remember one of the older ladies in town said, we re going to clean this place up, and have it looking great, and people will flock to see it. And another older lady in town, basically just shook her head, and said you are crazy! Nobody wants to come here. We might clean it up, but nobody s coming here. So it started there, with internal marketing, trying to talk to people around here and convince them of what we have, the unrecognized assets that are here, the wonders of being here, things they took for granted and didn t appreciate, and pointing out how other people come here to see these things visitors marvel at seeing sunrises and sunsets, alligators or giant trees at the refuge, even agriculture. We see it every day, but visitors will stop and run out and pick a stalk of cotton. ~Lower Mississippi Delta Partnership Official

16 Project Outcomes: Opportunities for Natural Heritage Tourism on the LMRV The LMRV lacks a strong identity. The National Park Service once tried to brand the area as The Nile of the New World, but this didn t succeed. The LMRV needs a brand people can identify with. Access to the Mississippi River is difficult through most of the LMRV. People want to visit the river, and access points with good infrastructure are crucial. Residents often rely on the government to solve problems, but natural heritage tourism offers opportunities for private entrepreneurship, and for involvement by non-profits. Audubon has partnered with the GIS lab at Delta State University in Mississippi to assemble a comprehensive database of hundreds of geo-referenced topics, including features (e.g. protected areas, campgrounds, trails, river access points). This database could be used to do a hot spot analysis to identify the places that warrant the most intensive development efforts for conservation-based tourism. Partnerships across traditional boundaries are crucial, and regional coordination is necessary to promote the LMRV on a large scale

17 Partnerships: A Key Link In order to be effective, you need people on the ground. And it s awkward if you have just one person, hanging out trying to make connections. So why not have a partnership with someone who s already there, and who s committed to on-going economic development? We are committed, this is not like a lot of economic development, just a 5-year thing. This is a generational thing. We are working with our community for as long as it takes. ~Community Development Agent (Helena) Our partners are whoever we are doing projects with. We originally had a goal to constantly recruit new partners, but a lot of these formal partnerships were in name only. We didn t actually do much work with them. Generally, though, I consider the active partners the ones we work with, like the City, the Extension Service, Audubon, the Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Forest. These are the organizations we do actual work with. ~Community Development Agent (Rolling Fork)

18 Thank you! Alan Barton Reid Bishop Visit the Wild Mississippi River!

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20 Land Use in the Lower Mississippi Valley Natural Heritage Corridor

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