Eco-tour case study
During the summer and fall of 1999, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) took the initiative to support a research study on existing trends and projects in United
States ecotourism. About half of TIES members reside in the U.S., and many are
working directly on ecotourism projects within their own country. Considering TIES’
membership interest in the field of U.S. ecotourism, the organization felt it was time to
put together a document containing information on U.S. ecotourism projects, statistics,
resources, and trends.
The eight projects contained in this publication were discovered by networking with
TIES members. The projects documented within this publication are presented as indepth case studies.
Ecotourism Defined
The supporting principles of ecotourism link it closely to other U.S. specialty travel
industries. Ecotourism is related to natural, cultural and adventure travel, however
there are subtle differences in ecotourism that differentiate the terms. Ecotourism is
most often characterized as a sustainable development tool. The International
Ecotourism Society defines it as “responsible travel to natural areas, which conserves
the environment and sustains the well-being of the local people.”
Ecotourism in its truest form often includes:
· Travel to natural and cultural areas
· Travel that supports conservation and bio-diversity
· Travel that improves or enhances the lives of local people
· Travel that includes some form of education for visitors and supports education
programs for local people
U.S. Public Lands – Attractive Destinations
Travel to natural and cultural areas in the United States was significantly encouraged
by the development of the National Park Service (NPS), created by an Act of Congress
and signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916. The NPS is one of the
four agencies within the Department of the Interior that manage U.S. public lands.
Other agencies are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). A fifth agency, the U.S.
Forest Service (USFS) within the Department of Agriculture, also helps to manage
public lands.
The NPS manages more than 80 million acres in 375 park units in every state (except
Delaware), the District of Columbia, America Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands. In 1998, NPS land received more than 250 million visits. BOR projects make
water-based recreation activities possible for about 80 million visitors per year. The
BLM is responsible for more than 264 million acres of public land that received more
ECOTOURISM CASE STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES
than 60 million visitors in 1996. The USFWS receives about 29 million visitors a year,
and manages a 92 million acre National Wildlife Refuge System, that includes 509
national wildlife refuges, 37 wetland management districts, and 50 coordination areas.
The USFS manages 191 million acres of forests, and many of these forests are
maintained for recreational purposes.
Public lands, owned by the United States government, are ideal tourism destinations
for many different travel experiences including ecotourism.
U.S. Ecotourism – An Emerging Niche Market
Ecotourism is a new and emerging niche market within the larger natural and
cultural travel industry. The statistics below give us an idea of the growing natural and
cultural travel industry in America. These statistics are a good representation of the
overall market. Some assumptions can be made about the potential for the U.S.
ecotourism market to prosper, as a smaller niche market, if the following trends for
natural and cultural travel continue. Additional statistics can be found on the USA
Ecotourism Statistical Factsheet (Appendix 1).
The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (1996)
found 62.9 million U.S. residents, representing 31% of the U.S. population 16 years or
older, enjoyed a variety of wildlife-watching activities. Wildlife-watching participants
spent $9.4 billion on trips to pursue their activities. An example includes the expansion
of bird watching tourism in South Nebraska associated with the migration of the
Sandhill Crane. This natural phenomenon brings up to $60 million to the region every
year during the spring (Walle 1997).
The Recreation Roundtable’s fifth annual national survey (1998) based on 2,009 inperson interviews with Americans 18 and older, reported that nearly six in ten
Americans participate in outdoor recreation at least monthly. Their motivations for
participation vary, but their top objectives are fun, relaxation, stress relief, experiencing
nature and exercise. Midwesterners remain the most active in recreation with 66%
taking part in outdoor recreation, Northeasterners 59%, West 56%, and the South up 6%
from 51% in 1997.
Visiting museums and/or historical sites is the third most popular activity for
travelers in America. In California, 44.3 million Americans traveled for cultural
activities in 1998. Of these 44.3 million Americans, 37.8 were California residents.
Cultural activities included a broad range of activities such as visiting museums, viewing
historical sites, and attending musical and theatrical events (National Travel Survey and
Travelscope 1998).
This quantitative data supports the assumption that there is a growing trend in
natural and cultural travel in the U.S. Without ecotourism data of a similar nature, it is
difficult to know how often the U.S. public travels with concerns about sustainability,
but these statistics provide some background that help support the potential for U.S.
ecotourism.
The conceivable environmental and community impacts of increased travel to public
lands and around gateway communities (gateway communities surround national park
areas) to enjoy these activities call for closer attention, and funding, to help address
potential negative impacts.
ECOTOURISM CASE STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES
Funding to Support Visitation on Public Lands
Growing visitation on public lands presents new land management issues such as
non-funded infrastructure repair and rising operational costs. In the past, funding for
wildlife management has been collected via an excise tax on hunting and fishing
equipment and licenses. New fundraising strategies involve raising money to support
wildlife and land management by placing an additional tax on outdoor recreational
equipment (Teaming with Wildlife) or off-shore oil company royalties (Conservation
and Reinvestment Act). Although a smaller version of the latter (popularly called “CARA
Lite” because it did not provide the full range of funding or benefits of the original bill)
was passed in late 2000, the two tactics are still being debated.
However, in 1996, Congress did create an alternative funding strategy called the
Recreational Fee Demonstration Program. The demonstration program has allowed the
Department of the Interior (NPS, USFWS, and BLM) and the Department of Agriculture
(USFS) to test new admission fees and innovative collection strategies at up to 100
projects per agency. This allows all demonstration parks to keep 80% of all fee
demonstration revenue that is collected.
Ecotourism Equals Economic and Educational Conservation
These new funding strategies are designed to meet the same objectives ecotourism
projects seek to create worldwide. Ecotourism projects have the potential to become
economic and educational conservation tools for visited areas and surrounding local
communities. According to the “Comparative Study of Ecotourism Policy in the
Americas” by Edwards, McLaughlin, and Ham (1999) a total of 25 American state and
Canadian province government tourism agencies provided documents that demonstrate
their policy and activities regarding ecotourism. This is a substantial number of
government agencies addressing ecotourism. It should be noted that each government
agency has implemented different ecotourism policies and activities to meet their public
demands.
For example the Maryland Department of Natural Resources began a nature tourism
program in April 1999 with a full year budget of $150,000. The program has requested a
$271,000 budget for the 2000 fiscal year. The program has nine full-time employees
with the following job descriptions:
- Chief of the Nature Tourism Program
- Nature Tourism Manager
- Administrative Assistant
- Five Regional Coordinators
- Two Park Naturalists
Two other part-time employees work within the Nature Tourism Program. They act
as an Outdoor Adventure Coordinator and a Market Researcher. Since the program was
developed, working partnerships have been developed with the following:
· Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development
· Maryland Office of Tourism
· Maryland Department of Transportation