Winter 2009 NFARA News

Geotourism Update
If you have stopped at a scenic view point, gone to a national park or visited a museum, you’re a geotourist. National Geographic Society defines geotourism as Tourism that sustains or enhances the geographic character of a place, its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the wellbeing of its residents.

Geotourism encompasses a range of niches including adventure and nature based travel, eco- and agri-tourism, cultural and heritage travel. Tourists who seek out places for their unique natural or cultural attributes are the target audience of a mapping project the National Geographic Society has undertaken. The National Geographic Society is working with community-based alliances in regions around the world to develop Geotourism MapGuides. These guides, both online and in print, offer destination information that identifies a region’s unique natural, historic and cultural attractions. The Sierra Nevada region is the program’s current focus.

The Sierra Business Council, SBC, and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, SNC, are working with National Geographic to highlight the heritage of the Sierra Nevada region and create an interactive web site and print map, a MapGuide. The Sierra Nevada Geotourism Project seeks ...To celebrate the Sierra Nevada as a world class destination while contributing to the economic health of the region by promoting sustainable tourism.

What exactly is sustainable tourism? According to National Geographic, sustainable tourism is tourism that doesn’t abuse the product – the destination. Like the doctor’s code, it means first, do no harm. It seeks to avoid “loving an area to death” by having businesses and stakeholders anticipate development pressures and apply limits and management techniques which sustain the attraction. Environmentally aware travelers will support businesses that conserve resources. Sustainable tourism aims for quality, not quantity. Communities will measure tourism success not by sheer numbers of visitors, but by length of stay, distribution of money spent and the quality of experience. Steve Frisch, President of the Sierra Business Council says The Sierra Nevada Geotourism Project is the perfect synthesis between economic outreach to culturally rich communities and respect for the planet.

Local residents and businesses, community organizations, Sierra visitors and other stakeholders are invited to nominate sites for inclusion in the web site and MapGuide. A Geotourism Council, representing the geographic and interest group diversity of the region, will be established to review and evaluate the nominations. National Geographic will not nominate sites but will have the final say on what is included on the maps.

This is a great opportunity to get involved. We, as residents of the Sierra, are being asked to identify destinations and experiences distinctive to our community or locale. To make your nominations, go to www.sierranevadageotourism.org. The types of sites to consider include natural areas and outdoor adventures, trails and scenic routes, historic or cultural sites, events and festivals, local arts and music, farmers markets and agritourism, lodging and restaurants, wineries and other local businesses. The list can include, essentially, anything authentic to the Sierra Nevada and unique to your community. Eric Peach of Protect American River Canyons, PARC, suggests making nominations in the spirit of the geotourism theme but not spots which may compromise personal beliefs or divulge secret spots which could be degraded by the weight of tourism. We don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Several sites in Placer County have already been nominated and tentatively put on the map on the Geotourism website. The Placer Arts Council has identified approximately 300 sites to nominate for inclusion on the map. The Donner Summit area has established a Geotourism Advisory Committee, of which I’m a member, that will identify and analyze potential sites, make recommendations to the community and nominate those sites in the best interests of the area. Sites that are environmentally or culturally sensitive, are already overused, or are on private property – unless the owner approves – will be disqualified.

Finally, the basic question, especially for those of us working on conservation issues, is this: Will geotourism truly help the region economically and in an environmentally sustainable way or are we just inviting more visitors at the expense of our natural and cultural resources? Because overused sites may not be nominated, are we directing visitors to new sites which will then become overused? Fortunately, this is a local, community-driven process and there is the opportunity, through the Geocouncil, to argue the appropriateness of questionable nominations. Given the players involved (National Geographic, the SNC, and the SBC) and the stewardship and sustainability principles of Geotourism, cautious optimism is in order.

The North Fork American River Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and donations are tax deductible. The NFARA mission is to preserve the wild, scenic and cultural heritage within the watershed of the North Fork. For more information, visit www.nfara. org or contact Jim Ricker at jvricker@prince-ricker.net or 530-389-8344.