Introduction to the RRR Program and Lasting Forests
Action and Enterprise for the Region

Eco-tourism as a Host and Hostess System

Abstract:

Based on a systems approach widely used in business and elsewhere, a new strategy is presented to deal with the many outdoor resources of Loudoun County, Virginia, and surrounding areas - protecting them and making profit from them over the long run. Turning attention outward from the tourist seeking nature, camping, outdoor experience, and park-like environments, the Ranging Strategy emphasizes creating a managed system of diverse local resources and a host-and-hostess environment sensitive to the environment and to visitor needs. An amazing array of potentials is presented. (Based on a lecture by R.H. Giles at the conference: Eco-Tourism: A Rural Escape to Northern Virginia, Oatland Plantation, Loudoun County, VA, April 5, 1997.

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I'm glad to be here. When you're this old you're glad to be anywhere. The other day I looked at my computer and in addition to telling me I had email, it printed: "You're in over your head!"

Many of us feel like we're "in over our head" often, but today in this group we are working on a topic that we can handle. We need a strategy for doing so, but it can be done if we are thoughtful and build into our work adaptive mechanisms. I want to talk with you about "eco-tourism," a word that has a variety of meanings. I'll not define it but you'll know what I mean by the time I finish. (I hope that you do not

finish before I do.) Remember the cute story about the young boy working in the garden: "Dad, these 'taters are too small to hoe." "Son," he said "keep at it; at your pace, they'll be full grown by the time you're done." Our developing strategy will be full grown by the time we are through today.

We don't need "eco-tourism" or other fancy phrases. It is not a scientific phrase with agreed meaning. We need to discuss a variety of progressive opportunities for (1) enhancing the quality of life in Loudoun County and vicinity, (2) preserving the environment, (3) retain the rural, (4) creating employment, and (5) improving economic conditions through a special variety of tourism. These are based on my assumptions that:

1. You love Loudoun County
2. You sense some changes are possible

3. You sense you're "missing out" on something good -- someone is doing eco-tourism and you have questions.

I have some answers, not all by any means, but I want you to stick with one as we discuss a strategy. I call it the Outdoor-Loudoun Strategy.

Let me tell you where this strategy came from.

1. Oregon - I returned to a forest where I worked in 1952 and had an emotional experience, aware I had not achieved my career goals.

2. Nigeria - I experienced the wonders of nature but the environment that denies any potential for tourism in that place.

3. Local - A long term involvement in systems ecology and an idea for a personal future in the new political and university environment.

As a result of these 3 situations or realizations it is essential that a "crafty" strategy be crafted ... intense, clear, limited, with feedback. Some will recognize the elements of general systems theory in the following ideas. Others will recognize concepts of ecology. I'm committed to practicing what I preach -- one thing being that knowledge of ecosystems has relevance to human situations.

The elements of the Ranging Strategy are:

1. Clear objectives -- profits, preservation, perpetuation, pleasure in the experience.

2. Abundant data -- knowledge about the customers and the county.

3. Special processes and concepts

a. emphasis on us as host and hostess. We are the resource; there is no commodity, nothing to sell; people come for events, experience, and service; if we want tourists we must provide what they want and they must be invited.

b. nondestructive - we use and enhance what we have.

c. diverse -- we provide year-around, county wide, different types of experiences and services. We must be like the ecosystem -- diverse to be stable.

d. synergistic -- collectively we can be greater than the simple sum of a group of enterprises.

e. energy conscious -- we must conserve energy and be ready for the next energy shortage.

f. optimal -- using computer aids to achieve optimization, i.e., great cost effectiveness with assistance in financial analyses.

4. Clear outputs -- internal (as well as external) reports of success in the four objectives

5. Beyond monitoring - using corrective, adaptive feedback

6. Feedforward - going beyond future-telling to make timely adjustments to the perceived future.

The above sounds very academic, but it is where we have to be. We are talking about -- at least I am -- of something that will not just happen - like planting trees if you want to and calling it a tree farm. You can start your own business if you want to, but 9 out of 10 will fail unless you engage in the Ranging Strategy. Failures are not good for people or for the county. We are discussing a system, a managed system for profit, with risks, but with high rewards. The strategic group is voluntary. It is one way to improve county conditions, stabilize the beauty of the rural landscape, and provide opportunities for citizens who want to live in this beautiful place in the future.

"There is no money in wildlife; no money in nature," some people say. A simple example may suggest an alternative. Imagine a group called "Nature Folks," one somewhat like the Audubon Society, but local. The owl subgroup, people with interest in owls meets at a local motel or bread and breakfast. After a pleasant meal they board a bus. They learn about owls, go to a special area and an expert "calls up" wild owls. A pleasant evening by a camp fire, entertainment and a late evening return, all mark a pleasant life experience, one that is non-destructive, educational, ecological, nature-based, research-based, and usually exciting in the dark secret ways of the Loudoun forest night. I am convinced that profits from nightly bus tours from 3 centers can be created within 2 years. These are managed events that only work when the land is known and there are superior hosts and hostesses. Once developed, then we seek to help people to see the owls of the world -- for example a tour catering to the 13 species in China.

That was an example. It doesn't sound like "tourism." It is an outdoor- or nature-based event, for profit. It includes visitors. It needs hosts and hostesses, caring people who know their subject matter, and an organizing genius.

I imagine a comprehensive county-based eco-tourism activity for citizens as well as visitors that includes:

1. Managed trails

2. A fee-fishing system

3. A variety of memberships with annual conferences

4. Horse back trips

5. Writers' camps

6. Summer camps for children and adults

7. Hayrides/snow sleigh rides

8. Guided float trips

9. Educational programs (high-intensity)

10. Canal history experiences

11. Park and garden seasonal

12. Language-based events

13. New sport events

14. Orienteering events

15. Excursions to local parks and sites

16. Nature expeditions

17. Touring and trail bike* events

18. Wild flower festivals

19. Hunting opportunities

20. Nature and resource management conferences

21. A new sport of bird watching

22. Product sales

23. Software and publications

24. Forest experience (showing seed-to-lumber)

25. A wild turkey day

This list and the last item may sound much-to-much like a wild-professor day. I'll provide more examples, but I can see in the eyes of some of you a little skepticism.

I cannot prove this concept will work. It is logical and requires no inventions. I really don't want to do a market analysis. It would be like analyzing the potentials for a hula hoop. Non one knows what this thing is ... the Ranging Strategy. Talking money (as I know you want) I would use $17 a day as a contribution of a forest visitor. I'd use $57 a day for residents, $77 a day per person for non-residents. The multipliers in the economy can be quite large; the above figures are, however low. You can speculate with them as you like. The magical 7's are fun to ponder but easy to remember ... 17, 57, 77.*

We have to watch the U.S. dollar. When it is weak against European and Asian economies, Virginia is a tourist's bargain compared to other destinations. Europeans will find it cheaper to vacation here in Loudoun County than in Europe. Conventional international tourists prefer places with a wide range of places to see and things to do. Some are more adventuresome and may look for new and different experiences.

Ranging may not be for the average international visitor to the U.S. How can anyone speculate, however, about 16 million potential visitors to the U.S. Studies show that factors contributing to their decisions:

27% - Seekers (novelty, popular destination)

12% - Escape (relaxation)

9% - Comfort and safety

7% - Learning

5% - Status (feel good; to tell friends)

4% - Companionship

*Bikers spend $27-$77 per person per day

These dimensions are probably very much these of other travelers. They explain about two-thirds of the variation in decisions made. When visitors return their criteria shift to escape, safety, and companionship.

Of course, we must guard against unwarranted optimism. We're not kids discussing whether to set up a lemon-aid table on the sidewalk. We are talking about (at least I am) a small group of thoughtful and committed people with a spirit -- each doing what they do best. We are discussing delivering services not products. The outdoors is very physical and it is easy to shift thought from service and care and tending to roots, rocks, and redbirds.

What are the objectives? The Ranging Strategy insists that these be clear:

1. Profit for members of the group that forms or grows (not blue-chip -- just profit every year)

2. Income for people in the county

3. Stable or enhanced quality of life here

4. Opportunities for visitors/clients/customers

To do this we need a rich diverse strategy to inform, serve, manage, and evaluate a system:

1. Clear objectives

2. Wonderful new information

3. Unique events and services

4. A management group

5. An eye on the future

Private, non-industrial lands in the U.S. are some 1.3 billion acres, two-thirds of the total land. Here in the East are three-fourths of these acres. It is on these acres where outdoor recreation increase will occur. The Federal and State lands seem to approach their capacity. Where else will the growing demand be met? Where will three-fourths of the population go, those people that are over 11 years old that engage in rural, dispersed recreation? Private lands will surely participate and these may be the lands of your County . There are problems with such use, but that is true of any land or property ownership and use. No farmer will tell me there are no problems with land use! With the problems are nested real opportunities that cancel the problems and provide profits and other benefits.

The picture is not one of increasing demand flooding over the vast area of non-industrial land. It is, however, one of demand, un-directed, and land, un-marketed and that land becoming increasingly more restricted (Cordell et al. 1993). Access and use are being restricted at the time when demand is increasing. The opportunity for a sophisticated system for outdoor recreation management has never been greater. Access through posting, leasing, land use practices, and right-of-way changes are the restrictions we discuss. We hasten to add that a reasonable manager will utilize on-site means to increase access for users such as: roads, trails, horses, snow mobile, helicopter and other aircraft, bridges, fords and ferries and boats. Even map information and signs can "move" people into new or rarely-used areas.

Wildlife managers have long been concerned about land closure to hunting, and dozens of papers have been published on that topic. The supply of land on which people may pursue outdoor recreation is decreasing rapidly (Cordell et al. 1993). Over a million acres of agricultural land are converted each year to nonagricultural use. "Hobby farming" increases; wetlands are drained; "no trespass" signs abound.

Trying to predict which lands will be posted or access denied in some way is difficult but there are trends that show up on the studies already done. It is likely that you will agree with most (but not all) of them: The tendency to close land is greater when there is:

1. User misconduct

2. Property damage

3. Fear of property damage

4. Fear of liability

5. Fear or likely loss of privacy

6. Personal (owner) use of the land for recreation

7. Ownership of more than 50 acres of woodland

8. Non-farm land

9. A "white-collar" or professionally employee owner

10. An urban-worker owner

11. A female owner

12. An older owner

13. An absentee but in-state owner

14. A hunter

15. An owner living near the tract

16. An educated owner (the higher, the more likely to post land)

There are many different conditions of access and posting. Often posting of land does not constitute removal of opportunities, only that guests or "anyone who asks" can use the land. What exact amounts of land that are present is not the point being presented here. It is that conditions are changing.

Owners characteristics are changing and that direction seems to be toward greater restriction when the demand for recreational lands is increasing. The situation is ripe for managed outdoor recreation.

Cordell et al. (1993) did regression analyses for outdoor recreation. In the southern region (including Virginia) are losing farm size (decreasing between 6.8 and 3.9% over a 5-year period or 0.6% a year.) The number of farms is decreasing at 1.7% a year. The woodland acres are decreasing at 2.5% a year.

It may be that the large corporate woodlands may be the places most suitable for outdoor recreation, especially hunting. There are options and alternatives to this, however, and that is one reason why I am discussing rural recreation and eco-tourism. Only 7% of private land is open to the public; 2.9% leased. About two-thirds is reserved for exclusive use of the owners. Even with these limits, there is a vast area for outdoor recreation which, if not well marketed, may result in a low use rate per tract.

Cordell et al. (1993:17) found that the prevalence of leasing land increased access. This is counterintuitive and they held it an important finding since others have interpreted leasing as reducing access. They suggested it related to control of who has access, the alternative being closing the land to all recreation.

In 1996, Cole reported that declining recreational use of wilderness may have been and probably is now reversed. The confusing picture of public use of "free" federal land is that there is increasing use, but at select sites that relate to special uses (e.g., rock climbing), regional demographies, and how well-known was each area. Cole (1996) said that demand for wilderness experiences will likely continue to increase. Management will be needed to keep these experiences of high quality, reduce crowding, and protect the wildland resource. Shifting management efforts from protecting the resource to enhancing the quality of experiences since there is increasing use and it is not yet adequately addressed. Both actions are needed, but for now, on-site management is needed. Quality enhancement will be added later.

I want to talk about the beauty of nature, the wildlife of your county, the experiences we can have together, but I know you. You are still asking: where is the money?

Consider my example.

1. As a farm forester I might make $10,000 from logging. I would have some crop and tree loss but I'd ignore it.

2. I could cut back on my logging due to recommendations and make only 9000 but make 2000 from hunting and reduced crop loss and tax benefits. Thus, my $10,000 is now $11,000 -- not a bad increase when I'm not maximizing timber profits.

3. If I use the Ranging strategy, I might make only 8000 from logging due to improved rotation and other practices, 2000 from hunting, and 3000 from visitor-based activities. Thus, I'm at $13,000 and have much reduced losses from a managed deer herd.

What this farmer needs is a contact - maybe a web page - maybe ads -- but 1/3 of recreationists complain about not having access to information about what to do or where to go. Profits, I need to remind you, is not only from new sales but reduced losses. Youth crime is a big financial and other loss. We can create programs that cost us something but have a net positive effect.

Crime and vandalism are a part of this business. They have been the basis of failures and are a sufficient threat to deter many from entering the "tourism" business. Planning for, preventing it, and responding to it are a part of a vital system. I view it like garbage, one of the associates of fine dining and pleasant meals together. I shall not stop dining because of garbage.

The users will bring increased crime, vandalism, littering, trespassing, some property value declines, pet droppings, noise, and some loss of privacy. Fear is justified. In ecology as in most places we learn you can never do just one thing. You can experience benefits but there will be disproducts -- the negatives. The Ranging Strategy addresses these problems. The emphasis is on net positive returns. And that requires planning, intensive management, and anticipating potential problems and preventing them. [This requires special evaluation: if there is no crime or vandalism do we fire our security force because they do not seem to be "doing anything?"]

What is this Ranging Strategy? I just made it up, for you, after 30 years of thinking about and around this topic. It is not simple (or it would have been done). It is not without risk (or it would have been done). Its parts are well known -- like bricks -- but with many imaginative structures yet to be built. Here is the abstract. Perhaps we can work out the details later:

1. Objective: Make profit every year for 50 years.

2. Use general systems theory, a systems approach.

3. Diversify (see appendix of "events").

4. Use group incentives e.g., shared ownership.

5. Gain venture capital at once.

6. Use a common service unit.

7. Use planned synergism.

8. Use success stories as a key advertising medium.

9. Gain "memberships" for lasting involvement.

10. Use the computer widely for its power; decision making and optimization.

11. Use the internet.

12. Develop physical experiences and involved events.

13. Assure that "events" start at least 6 months before actual visits and last at least 12 months.

14. Produce the total experience (anticipation, discussion, mystery, service, action, pleasant reflection, bragging rights, low cost benefits for return experiences).

15. Develop and use contests and games.

16. Develop support and ancillary enterprise franchises.*

17. Use feedback, going beyond monitoring.

18. Stay mindful of pending energy availability.

19. Become a center - where others interested in superior tourism of the type developed in this county can come for conferences, courses, publications, and consultation ... for profit.

20. Do it all for the right reasons: a love of the county and its environment -- sustained management for children and grandchildren -- with minimum government agency involvement -- (such as today's conference).

Eco-tourism is too small, too limited, for the greatness of the people of this county. A total system, one as big as "all outdoors" is needed, one building civic virtue. People can be served well. What is needed is a rational, planned, managed system of hosts and hostesses with a strategy serving visitors to a wonderful place.

Literature Cited

Cole, D. N. 1996. Wilderness recreation use trends, 1996 through 1994. U.S.D.A. For. Serv., Intermt. Res. Sta., Research Paper INT RP-488, Ogden, UT. 10 pp.

Cordell, H. K., D. B. K. English, and S. A. Randall. 1993. Effects of subdivision and access restrictions on private land recreation opportunities. U.S.D.A. For. Serv., Gen. Tech. Rpt. RM-231, Rocky Mt. Forest and Range Exp. Sta., Ft. Collins, CO. 21 pp.

Shah, N., C. Keller, and J. C. Crotts. 1994. Public parks, recreation and museums' role in the international tourism economy: Florida as a case study, p. 77-81 in H. H. Clonts, ed. Proceedings, 1993 Southeastern Recreation Research Conference, Helen, GA. (Vol. 15). U.S.D.A. Forest Serv. Gen. Tech. Rpt. SE-90, Asheville, NC. 81 pp.

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*Sales units (franchise or support group) can provide firewood, ice, food, bug spray, sun lotion, apparel, special equipment, bikes, shuttle service, lunches, music and entertainment, permits, insurance. Firewood is an example of a function from related groups of a total natural resource management system for profit, one including forests, fish, land animals, butterflies, ... and visitors.