Vision Statement for Mississippi River Nature Tourism Workshop

Nature tourism constitutes a major segment of the overall tourism market as revealed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-associated Recreation. Moreover, a survey completed in September 2000 by the Recreation Roundtable, a tourism survey group in Washington, D.C., found that 78 percent of the American public participates in outdoor recreational activities at least once a month. In partial response to this trend, efforts are underway within and adjacent to the Lower Mississippi Valley to complete development of birding trails and to promote development of outdoor recreational infrastructure along the Mississippi River, the Mississippi Coast, in Coastal Louisiana, and in other areas . There is also a growing recognition among state tourism officials and the private sector of the importance to local economic development of this natural resource based sector of the tourism market. Moreover, promotion of nature tourism is a proven way to educate the public regarding important environmental issues such as loss of fish and wildlife habitat.

The Lower Mississippi River floodplain ecosystem contains habitat that is critically important to the continued well-being of hundreds of species of fish and wildlife and it harbors a wealth of nature tourism opportunities including fishing, hunting, camping, canoeing, power boating, biking, hiking, wildlife photography, and bird watching. Development of these opportunities and integration of nature tourism with the other highly significant forms of tourism in the region that are based upon the area’s unique culture and history, will produce significant economic benefits to a part of the Nation that persists as an economically distressed region. Additionally, once established, the economic engine of Nature Tourism will promote increased emphasis on protection and improvement of the region’s natural resource base for the benefit of all its citizens.

In response to the need to inform tourism officials and others regarding the growing importance of nature tourism and natural resource based economic development opportunities in general, Audubon Mississippi and its partners are planning to host a workshop for individuals, agencies, and groups interested in promoting nature tourism along the Lower Mississippi River. The goals of this workshop are to:

Plans for the workshop are being developed in cooperation with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee, and the Mississippi Development Authority Division of Tourism Development. A Steering Committee composed of representatives from each state along the Lower Mississippi River has been established to assist in planning for the workshop. The location and time for the workshop will be Vicksburg, Mississippi, April 25th - 27th, 2006.

The workshop will secure nationally or regionally recognized nature tourism professionals and others to explain the nature tourism concept and highlight the potential for natural resource based economic development in the region and to facilitate discussion of lessons learned from various nature tourism success stories.

Nature tourism concepts will be demonstrated through a series of field trips to local publicly and privately owned points of interest and to the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. Permanent documentation of the workshop presentations and discussions will be carried out shortly after the conclusion of the workshop.