A unit of Lasting Forests evolving since March 30, 1999
A Total Forest Management Plan and Wildland Management Decision Support System
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The Tour Group

The Tour Group is proposed as an economic enterprise that can be made a part of Lasting Forests and it too will participate in sustaining the achievement of objectives of the land owner and the region. The action is gentle on the land, educational, and meets the real needs of a population that is becoming more urban. The enterprise works from the Forests (or nearby) to arrange high quality, well-catered and well-outfitted tours of the forests and the region, then later advances tours of other areas of the world. These include tours with names such as:

• Appalachian Forest Ecology
• Deer Life History
• Prospectors: Geology and Minerals
• Scenic Beauty
• Winter Sleigh Rides
• Landforms
• The Lasting Forest Concept

Regional tours are arranged for travelers going to and from the Forests, meeting staff of the Forest Group at several national or state parks and forests on their way.

International tours are to be arranged for bird watching, seeing the deer and owls of the world, and developing wildlife-related trips with our contacts in Senegal, China, Nigeria, India, Belize, and Colombia. The tours provide employment opportunities, research and education opportunities, enhance the quality of life, and allow a rural contribution to the Forests , region, and other land holdings.

Emphasis in the tours is definitely on nature and that can be defined broadly, but it is expected that the relations of nature to local and national history, to the effects of changing land use, and to diversification will be part of many tours.

The intent of this description is to guide staff efforts and provide insights for planners, investors, and in The Tour Group.

The Tour Group will succeed best when created within the context of Nature Folks, Avi, The Fishery; and other enterprises such as the Wildland Knowledge Base.

Over 40% of the U.S. population now participates in some form of nature tourism. It is the fastest growing component of the travel industry. Variously termed ecotourism and back-to-nature recreation, we make no claim to new titles. The activities are within the topic of ranging. As he Tour Group, we simply suggest a variety of tours managed as a whole system with a constant theme and clear objectives, central administration, planning, and cost effectiveness.

The objectives (the weights or relative values we can discuss) are apparent and honest:

1. To make a profit for employees and investors.
2. To teach people about nature (where "teach" implies "make a significant change in their behavior or feeling of pleasure or reduced dissonance from stimuli").
3. To stabilize the presence or dynamic of natural phenomena.
4. To acquaint more people with the special natural areas and processes of the Lasting Forests and region.
5. To expedite meaningful, safe, national and international nature and wildland tours.
6. To help stabilize employment of people with knowledge about nature.
7. To stabilize a diverse research program on nature.
8. To acquaint urban people with the realities of natural processes in the forests, fields, waters, and wetlands that support them.
9. To stabilize sales and services for people on tours that also benefit the participating land owners and the local economy.

The Tour Group has special characteristics:

1. They start at the end. A tour participant is a potential long-term member of a "club" of people who have gone on tours. It is as if we are interested in the person leaving the tour bus.
2. Tourists are educated before starting and during the tour. The emphasis - "the responsible tourist."
3. Areas are protected.
4. Collection is discouraged.
5. Photography is taught and encouraged.
6. Personal time is encouraged and provisions made for it on tours.
7. The welfare of local people is enhanced, at least protected.
8. Historical and cultural activities can usually be related. Special events may be interspersed with "nature" events.
9. While local activity may be disrupted, the benefits, by design, will outweigh the costs related to disruptions.
10. General support and encouragement of museum work is provided.

Nature tourism has not been developed as an economic resource system. The ideas have been limited; the scale of operation has been small; the effects of season have not been accommodated by diverse offering.

Lasting Forests has available a vast resource. There are unlimited land resources as well in the those surrounding areas. A Tour Group strategy includes direct work with cultural events, motels, busses, restaurants, bed and breakfast, boating, service stations, local stores and markets handicraft groups, and artists. The boost proposed from the creation of the enterprise is to the overall economy. (At Cape May, NJ, visitors observing migrating birds spend over $10 million in the community.) Meetings and suggestions for local participants for cooperating with The Tour Group will be provided.

The general concepts that The Tour Group encourages are (in unison with ASTA):

1. Respecting the frailty of Earth.
2. Leaving only footprints (taking away only memories and photos)
3. Educating before and while on tours.
4. Respecting privacy and dignity of people in areas visited.
5. Refraining from buying objects related to endangered plants, animals, or communities.
6. Refraining from disturbing animals, or communities.
7. Creating support for research, studies, and expeditions.
8. Using appropriate transportation (low impact, low energy).
9. Patronizing nature-sensitive hotels, resorts, transportation, etc. (recycle; noise; energy, etc. and with staff dedicated to improved resource management.)

The potentials (not intended to be site specific)and the types of tours include:

1. Hawk watching
2. Spring flower tours
3. Fishing contest
4. Fishing contest observation
5. Bear research with trail ride
6. Owl "hoots"
7. Coyote (calling up for observation)
8. 'Coon hunts (observation of night hunt)
9. River events
10. Canoe trips
11. Geology
12. Autumn colors
13. Beaver ponds and their ecology
14. Archaeological dig site
15. Soils trips
16. Predator-prey trips
17. Lake ecology
18. Forest ponds
19. Spring "seeps"
20. Wild turkey trips
21. Research participation (volunteer work)
22. Expeditions to Ancient Forest
23. Select lake ecology
24. Stream ecology
25. Wildflower preserve
26. Regional tours; U.S. tours with the Lasting Forests as a terminal point
27. Timber harvesting
28. Avi - "bird golf" - national and international
29. Deer observation - international trips to see every species of deer in the world

Wildland Adventures, part of Nature Folks and The Tour Group is an enterprise seeking to put people in touch with the wildlands, their beauty, lessons, periods, an development. It presents diverse, high quality, low cost opportunities for:

• relaxing outdoors
• recuperating from stress or challenges to health
• engaging in exciting activities
• taking realistic, safe challenges
• seeing new spectacles
• engaging in personal and group contests (selected by clients)
• becoming informed about nature and its skillful management
• gaining career orientation
• gaining career enhancement
• gaining historical and geographic knowledge
  • in the U.S.
  • in select parts of the world
• establishing historical or primitive roots

Some may call this unit "ecotourism." Perhaps, but we believe that it is more broad and unique and only an aspect of ranging. We have several roles:

1. Arranging for superior international nature study trips. (These are tested and certified experiences; we can almost assume a good match between a person's interests and our arranged visits.)
2. The same for U.S. trips.
3. We plan, lead, and supervise hikes along famous trails.
4. We have a set of Ranging programs, for example:
   • The Gobbler
   • The Floater
   • The Lunker
   • The Mastodon
   • Red Oak
   
   Brief descriptions of each of these are available below. The financial returns to a region and to the company that manages wildland adventures can be substantial. Signs suggest substantial business in tourism, particularly that called nature tourism or ecotourism. A positive net effect of increasing involvement in our style of such activity and diverting people from other recreational activities is desired. Ecotourism is said to be the fastest growing segment of global travel. As part of a very large and growing industry, Wildland Adventures can provide new or enhanced opportunities for private landowners, rural communities, cities, and others.

   Wildland Adventures or Ranging is grounded in knowledge that for outdoor recreation sports, the importance (1994) is as follows (based on participants):

Nature tourism is said to have a 30% increase each year since 1987. The potentials for Ranging seem very great. The potential clients are numerous. The places and scenery are abundant. Qualified staff have been identified.

Ranging is discretionary travel to natural and wilderness areas, historic sites and related areas for health, educational, entertainment, and recreational benefits that also provide financial benefits within the region.

The enterprise intends to do the following:

• Provide incentives to private landowners to manage habitats, preserving some special areas.
• Encourage public land management for wildlife.
• Provide incentives for scenic beauty enhancement.
• Expand tourism opportunities.
• Increase and stabilize regional employment.
• Increase educational opportunities.
• Increase ancillary profits in the realm of:
  • transportation
  • food
  • lodging
  • equipment
  • insurance

We shall attempt to develop a Wildland Adventures Association with members who are landowners, tourism managers, camps, tour operators, guides, conservation groups, chambers of commerce, and visitor bureaus, restaurants, and hotels/motels.

Wildland Adventures seeks to increase the amount and benefits derived from resources and awareness of the needs and potentials of management. The topics of management:

1. Assuring maximum use of quality scenes
2. Assuring maximum use of quality stream and lake edges
3. Assuring quality lake experiences
4. Assuring quality water recreation experiences
5. Assuring successful angling
6. Using clean and appropriately equipped camping areas
7. Using superior hiking trails
8. Using quality bed/breakfast, motel, and hotel facilities

By design, the activities have minimum negative effects on the environment and, where possible, enhancing and conserving effects. Increased nature appreciation is an objective as is involvement in supporting rational land management. Hunting and fishing are arranged as separate activities and not included as a specific activities of Wildland Adventures. Millions of combinations can be made of the following types of activities:

• bird watching
• nature study
• educational workshops and seminars
• photography
• backpacking
• orienteering
• hiking
• boating
• canoeing
• camping
• rafting
• biking
• vehicle tours
• rappelling
• rock climbing
• sight-seeing
• meeting people and forming associations
• assisting in research

With each trip, membership inthe Nature Folks is offered. Other options, at discount, are provided. The following are suggested tours or trips:

Gobbler - Wild turkey blind; wild turkey lectures and demos; trout stream survey; fish hatchery; camp fires

Floater - float trip; fishing for large fish; fish watching; short trail hikes; camp fires; mine tours; canoe instruction; fire fighting demonstration; forestry and watershed management

Lunker - Tour of 5 ponds; fishing and fish management lectures; wilderness ecology; tracking; trails and watershed demonstrations.

Mastodon - Visit to fossil animal and plant digs; lectures on fossils and geology; pre-settlement people; Indians and settlers local drama group; ruins; farming practices.

Red Oak- Forestry practices - marking-to-the mill; National forests; local homes; quilting; local handicrafts; sourdough; farming practices; forest wildlife management; ecology of the down log; forest springs and seeps; landscape ecology; night hikes; endangered species at natural history museum.

Visitors bring money to the region. One effort will be to bring as much of that into the system as possible. Strategies need to be developed carefully. In Texas, hunting alone generated $475.5 million in salaries and wages or $20,300 per job. Each job had the extra equivalent production of $4,500.

In Texas, in 1992, 6,000 bird watchers spent $2.5 million in a 6-week period ($10/ visitor day). Near Aransas Refuge, 100,000 tourists provide $5 million ($40 per visitor) into the economy.

In Texas 40% of visitors spend $125 per day in average 2-day trips (average is $43). Proportions spent are shown in the table.

Lodging	40 %
Food	25
Travel	20
Other	15

Whooping Crane tours are conducted at $28 per person.

In a Hummingbird Festival, 4,000 visitors spent $1 million ($250 per visitor).

There is no one nature tourist, one participant or market for Wilderness Adventures. They are 60:40 male:female; have household incomes of $25 to $75 thousand, and range from 25 to 54 years old.

Wildland Adventures provides for nature tourists, typically participants, not passive observers. Some, however, seek high quality lodging, not camping conditions. A mix of accommodations is needed.

A profitable, sustained Wildland Adventures is dependent upon an enduring nature resource in the region and a quality support staff as interested in people as in nature.

The members of Lasting Forests can position themselves to take advantage of the growing interest in nature and wildland experiences.

Strategies for study:

1. Develop knowledge of a set of trails.
2. Develop trails.
3. Preserve areas.
4. Work with local youth as guides.
5. Increase animals richness.
6. Develop group instruction spots (amphitheater).
7. Develop efficient unique food service.
8. Develop efficient health/first aid service.
9. Explore rules and needs for permits for exceptions.
10. Contribute to managers of public areas.
11. Build an environment around each siting, experience, or adventure. It is rare that an instantaneous event can be viewed later as "worth the trouble or money."
12. Plan or restoration or costs of rehabilitating any sites used.
13. Rotate use of sites.
14. Include education (demos) for almost all events.
15. Develop staff training materials.
16. Conduct staff competency analyses.
17. Use a staff uniform.
18. Develop financial cooperation with lodging and food services.
19. Have citizens "welcome" visitors; train local citizens to provide hospitality.
20. Intensive advertising and promotional is needed.
21. Develop volunteer guidelines for all participants in Wildland Adventures.
22. Develop a sense of personal space, uniting people with the land -- their place, their tree, their rock. Unity. They learn; this is their place of learning.

Progressively we need to work to reduce property tax on areas that enhance tourism; tax credits for establishing conservation easements; incentives for transportation to serve our areas; limitations of liability; and development of an insurance program.

We need to follow contacts that we have already made in Senegal, Nigeria, China, and India. Perhaps work through students and the Peace Corps can be mutually beneficial. A Peace Corps training site can be created.

Ideas for Development:

• Black bear-related events can be useful.
• Follow advertisement in Birder's World magazine.
• Include tax-deductible contributions to wildland research tour fee.
• Promote native fish pets.
• Promote story-tellers and bold tales.
• Demonstrate primitive hunting, rappelling, fly fishing, game farm visits, then promote pheasant raising.
• Promote fly tying and equipment.
• Sell products: meat, skins, hair (fly tying), feathers, carvings, local music tapes, drawings, wildlife art, folk lore books; folk tales on tapes.
• Develop a "grand slam" of wildlife sightings: select fish, ungulates, bovids, felids.
• Also for reptiles and amphibians (as for birds).
• Develop a series of steps or sequential tours leading to an emblem, hat, jacket, etc.

Emphasis:

• Multiple adventures
• Very different groups
• No single advertising effort
• Isolate clients
• Present future targets
• Require first-impression education for proper role and requirements
• No hidden costs
• Recruit clients
• Achieve a high percent returning as a function of favorable exit interview results
• Improve local physical conditions
• Keep local people informed with attitudes, responses, and expenditures of visitors

If you are interested in the status of or assisting in further developments of The Tour Group or Wildland Adventures, please write to Dr. Bob Giles. There is much work to be done and we can do great things together.

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This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.