Assignments for Class 13: Telling Tourists Where to Go

Objectives for Class

Federal land ownership in Virginia, as of 2003
(US Forest Service owns the majority of Federal land in Virginia)
Source: US Geological Survey National Atlas

What Makes a Place Special? Parks, Forests and Tourism "Personal" vs. Public Parks in Virginia What's Where Tourism in Virginia strategy #1 in tourism requires Virginia to have a unique "brand" - potential tourists need to be stimulated to leave home, and those who leave home need to be encouraged to visit Virginia rather than Pennsylvania, California, Bermuda, wherever Virginia Tourism and Virginia Business Aviation World's Fair grand plans for a 2003 extravaganza at Newport News airport, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight, were cancelled due to Virginia's 2002 budget crunch; when the state eliminate proposed funding to subsidize the event, the fair was cancelled tourism is a business, every business has risks... and occasionally, elected officials chose to minimize risk by saying "no" to funding requests Virginia is For Lovers? History of Virginia is for Lovers slogan (life is better after your 40th birthday...) Welcome Centers if you drive into Virginia on I-64, I-77, I-81, I-85, or even cross the border on I-95 from North Carolina, how far must you drive before seeing a Welcome Center? note the location of the closest welcome center on I-95 or I-66 in Northern Virginia to steer visitors in the DC-area to specific locations in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun... only a small percentage of tourists go as far west on I-66 or as far south on I-95 to the locations of "Welcome to Virginia - spend money here" centers... but where would you put a visitor center closer to DC? Article XI of the Constitution of Virginia (adopted 1970) "To the end that the people have clean air, pure water, and the use and enjoyment for recreation of adequate public lands, waters, and other natural resources, it shall be the policy of the Commonwealth to conserve, develop, and utilize its natural resources, its public lands, and its historical sites and buildings. Further, it shall be the Commonwealth's policy to protect its atmosphere, lands, and waters from pollution, impairment, or destruction, for the benefit, enjoyment, and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth.. Nature-Oriented Tourism History of Virginia State Parks location of National Parks in Virginia are they concentrated in any physiographic province? Are Virginia's Parks Next to Virginia's People? Land Patterns and Special Places go to QuickFacts, select Virginia, and check out the Geography QuickFacts at the bottom to see "Land Area" and "Persons per square mile" (population density) in the year 2010 use those same Census statistics to identify how many "housing units" were in Virginia in 2010 select a county on the QuickFacts website. Assuming each housing unit has an individual place in which residents can play, determine the number of private play areas (i. e. backyards of housing units...) for the county that you selected. (Think that assumption is valid, or flawed? In your experience, do all housing units - including urban apartments - have a private backyard?) think citizens in urban or rural areas are more likely to be in favor of using tax dollars to buy land for public parks? Check the results for Highland and Fairfax counties on the November 5, 2002 vote for Proposed Bond 2 - Parks and Recreational Facilities Virginia Tourism Monitor (think the monthly trends would be different if we experienced global cooling that made skiing more attractive in Virginia? The Lego Corporation once considered building Legoland on the Cherry Hill Peninsula north of Quantico, to tap into the tourists that visit DC... but chose to build in Calsbad, California. The weather is warmer in the winter there, so the tourism season is longer.) Where do Virginia's visitors come from? (a dated-but-still-relevant report) note the location of state parks are they evenly distributed, with just as many north of the James River as there are parks south of that river? locate Twin Lakes, where two separate parks were merged into Twin Lakes State Park for a particular reason: "Cedar Crest Conference Center is on the site of the former Prince Edward State Park for Negroes. In 1948, during an era of rigidly enforced racial segregation in the South, an African-American named M. Conrad Martin was denied admission to Staunton River State Park. Martin, a prominent banker from Danville, Va., then filed suit to challenge the validity of the commonwealth's policy for providing state parks only for whites. This legal challenge led to a decision by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Development to expand facilities at an existing recreation area for African-Americans in Prince Edward County and turn it into a full fledged state park. In January 1949, Governor William Tuck wrote a special appropriation totaling $195,000 for development of the new Prince Edward State Park for Negroes. The new park was opened to the public in June 1950, making it Virginia's eighth state park. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation. However, Prince Edward and nearby Goodwin Lake state parks continued as separate facilities the two merged in 1976. The resulting Prince Edward-Goodwin Lake State Park was renamed Twin Lakes State Park in 1986, and the concept of an overnight conference facility on the Prince Edward site came to fruition."1

reconstructed Governors Palace at Williamsburg Garden Week at Mt. Airy on the Northern Neck

some nationally-significant natural areas, such as Luray Caverns, are private... and managed for business more than for preservation All Green Spaces Are Not "National Parks" if Luray Caverns was a national or state park, would the park managers allow construction of a Stalacpipe Organ? Natural Bridge can you tell through the Geographic Names Information System if there is more than one "Natural Bridge" arch in Virginia? Crows Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford County It's not Federal land. It's not a state park with a campground or cabins. It's not a county recreation site, with soccer fields and lights. In fact, it's not even open to the public yet. Do we need more "special places" that do not get developed, or do we have enough for the current and future population? If we need more areas, should the government purchase them? What is your priority - active recreation (ballfields), passive recreation (hiking/birdwatching), or resource preservation areas with no human use allowed? Purchase of Bird Refuge Is at Issue in Campaigns (Washington Post, September 11, 2005) compare Reasons to Save Crow's Nest with Public money to buy Crow's Nest? Where will it end? (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, January 25, 2005). Which of these do you find to be most convincing? A number of different local, state and federal resources were used to block plans for development, and to fund the initial acquisition. Just saying "the government ought to buy it" is a simplistic, and unrealistic, approach to land conservation - snapping fingers for TinkerBell to appear with a blank check is now good for only financial fairy tales. Assembling a partnership to purchase land for conservation is hard work, and requires a solid understanding of the priorities of different agencies in the local, state, and Federal government. Virginia Natural Area Preserves "preserves" are purchased for a different purpose than "parks," and managed for resource protection rather than for visitor enjoyment (some are even closed to public use) what percentage of "preserves" are near the population centers of Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads? if you were running the land acquisition program to conserve natural areas, would your priority be to purchase the greatest number of acres (perhaps in Southwestern Virginia) or to purchase natural areas near the greatest number of potential visitors?

cave formation at Grand Caverns (near Grottoes), first commercial tourist cave in Virginia

• location of 24 Federal "wilderness areas" in Virginia
• "Wilderness" is an official designation used for Federal lands, not state/county/private lands. Wilderness areas are designated by Congress to recognize places where human-caused disturbance appears to be minimal. The Wilderness Act of 1964 defined it: "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
• Ideally, visitors to wilderness areas can imagine themselves in the North America that existed before colonization by Europeans. In an area designated as wilderness, use of mechanized equipment - trucks, chain saws, even bicycles - is prohibited in almost all situations. (Trail maintenance is done with hand tools, but wheelchairs for persons with disabilities and emergency rescue by helicoper are permitted.)
• Wilderness areas are open to public use. Hunting and fishing are allowed in areas managed by the US Forest Service. In areas managed by the National Park Service, fishing is permitted but hunting is prohibited. (These are the same rules for almost all land managed by the National Park Service, outside of Alaska.)
• History-Oriented Tourism
• Why Aren't All of the Nationally-Significant Historic Sites Managed by the Government?
• Formation of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association and the Dramatic Rescue of George Washington's Estate
• Slavery and Tourism in Virginia
• Virginia is for Lovers - Richmond Slave Trail (advertised by the official state tourism agency)
• map of Richmond Slave Trail

slave history is often obscured/omitted, but not at Sudley in Fairfax County

Distribution of National Park Visitor Spending, 2009 Source: Michigan State University, Economic Impacts of Recreation and Tourism Money Generation Model- Version 2

• recreational visits to National Park Service units in Virginia increased almost 2% between 2008-2009, but dropped 1% between 2009-2010.²
• The National Park Service generates over 20 million visits each year to less than 20 places, in a state with a total population of less than 8 million. Must be a lot of locals who visit repeatedly, or a lot of out-of-state visitors coming to see someplace special in Virginia.
• Any government official can tell you that there are lies, damned lies... and statistics. The definition of "visit" is different from a "visitor." A visitor who comes to Manassas Battlefield on both a Saturday and a Sunday will be counted twice, generating two visits. Statistics for "visits" are designed to exclude commuter traffic on George Washington Memorial Parkway, and to exclude people driving on highways such as Route 33 across Blue Ridge but not stopping to see anything in Shenandoah National Park.
• Direct effects cover businesses selling goods and services directly to park visitors. Secondary effects include the impacts of the local businesses/individuals spending the money that was earned from those visitors. On a national basis, local visitors represent about 29% of all visits, but only 10% of all visitor spending. Visitors who drive more than 50 miles are more likely to buy a meal and stay in a local hotel, spending more money. Conventions and visitor bureaus in Virginia are often funded by a tax on hotels and meals, so it makes sense to spend that tax money advertising in Ohio and New England rather than locally.
• Nationally in 2008, 29% of park visits were day trips by local residents, 41% were day trips from 50 miles or more, and 30% involved an overnight stay near the park - according to the "National Park Visitor Spending and Payroll Impacts - 2008" report.

Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia/North Carolina/Tennessee combined) was the #1 most-visited unit in the country in 2009, with 16 million recreation visits. George Washington Memorial Parkway was most-visited National Park Service park unit in Virginia in 2009, with almost 7 million visits. (Different in 2010?) Source: National Park Service Visitor Summary Report


Economic Impacts of Visitor Spending at National Park Service Units in Virginia, 2010
An * with a percentage indicates the park is located in more than one state and only part of the economic activity is assigned to this state
("Overnight stays" are within the park itself - many tourist benefits come from renting motel rooms outside the park.
No one camps overnight at Manassas National Battlefield Park, but the hotels nearby benefit from Civil War tourists.)
Source: Michigan State University NPS Money Generation Model, Visitor Spending and Economic Impacts For National Park Units
• National Register of Historic Places
• About Us
• Fundamentals
• Virginia Landmarks Register
• QUICK PEEK: compare the number of places listed for Buchanan and Dickenson counties in southwestern Virginia vs. Prince Wiliam and Loudoun counties in Northern Virginia
• why do you think the numbers might be so different?
• National Scenic Byways Program - Virginia
• this partnership of various government agencies, non-government organizations (NGO's), and private businesses helps to market the tourist-related sites along about 150 roads in the United States
• why was the Journey Through Hallowed Ground partnership established, and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Byway designated? (see answers to Frequently Asked Questions)
• if you were responsible for drawing the boundaries of the Journey through Hallowed Ground Byway, would you alter the current map?
• The Crooked Road - Virginia's Heritage Music Trail
• Trail Map, showing The Carter Family Fold and other hotspots of country music
• Abingdon - Our Rich History
• why would a little town located in Southwestern Virginia have so much historical, as well as natural, history?
• Route 11, and now Interstate 81, both follow the path of the old Wilderness Road that connected Pennsylvania to the "bluegrass" section of Kentucky. Emigrants such as Daniel Boone travelled that path, and gave the first name to the place we now call Abingdon.
• Barter Theater
• Marking History on Virginia Roadways: The State Historical Highway Marker Program
• The Growth of Recreation

Map Exercise:
Count the number and size of parks vs. urban areas along the state's borders. In the Virginia Atlas and Gazetteer, start at Cumberland Gap and go east to Virginia Beach. Note how many parks vs. urban areas (with the distinctive color identified in the legend) are present in each border county/city. Return to Cumberland Gap and go northeast to Frederick County, making the same count. Then start at Loudoun County and go southeast along the Potomac River to Northumberland, cross the Chesapeake Bay to Accomack County, and complete the loop by going south to Virginia Beach again. Finally, look at the maps on page 55 and page 56, the geographic center of the state. If Virginia had developed according to the idealized "central place theory," would there be parks on the periphery and Dillwyn would be the largest city in Virginia?

Site Visit:
Find a historic building near your home or office that you have not described already for this course. You can use the Virginia Landmarks Register to help, or check the website of your county historic society. Identify:
- what makes that site historic? elaborate on what happened there to make the place "special"?
- why would you consider that site to be worth designating? if you think the site is not historic or appropriate to label as "special" in some way (in your opinion), why not?
- what else was happening in Virginia at that time, that you have learned about in this class since August? For example - "Bacon's Rebellion happened ten years before this parcel in Stafford County was first acquired by the Brent family" or "the Proclamation of 1763 was issued 2 years after Robert Carter III bought this house in Williamsburg." (Hint: you can use the Virginia Timeline of State History.)
- name and describe 2-3 other places in Virginia that are associated with the times/event that occurred at your site. For example, if your site is associated with Massive Resistance to desegregation, decribe 2-3 other places related to civil rights are also located in Virginia.
- based on the date of whatever historic event occurred there, where were your relatives? how many generations back would you have to go in your family genealogy, before a relative of yours was alive at that time? (Assume a generation is 30 years, unless you know the family history. For example, you may know that your great-great grandfather was living in Germany, back when Alexandria was occupied by a Union force and Confederates withdrew from the intersection of Prince and South Washington streets on May 24, 1861.)

church at Jamestown

References