Maine’s rim counties—here called the Maine Woods region—suffer from chronic economic and community distress, marked by declines in several resource-based industries, an ongoing youth exodus, and a rapidly aging population. Nonetheless, many encouraging new ventures are helping to revitalize the Maine Woods economy and communities, and tourism and recreation should play a central role in these efforts. This article focuses on initiatives launched through a partnership between the 16-member Maine Woods Consortium and the Maine Office of Tourism designed to reinvigorate Maine Woods’ recreation and hospitality offerings and to enrich amenities in the region’s gateway communities. M rim counties, the term we use for the Maine Woods region, suffer from chronic economic distress and community erosion. Rural Maine is not unique, of course. Across rural America, there are similar patterns of low and stagnant incomes, job loss in traditional resource-based industries, heavy dependence on government supports, on-going out-migration of youth, and rapidly aging populations. Analysts stress that these long-evolving conditions have deep structural causes and thus no simple fix (Hendrickson Muro, and Galston 2018; Krugman 2019). Nonetheless, efforts to launch new lead sectors and revitalize rural economies abound, from cross-laminated timber to telemedicine and craft brewing. In the Maine Woods region, many encouraging tourism initiatives are reshaping the venerable recreation economy to meet twenty-first-century leisure travelers’ changing preferences and to tap their spending power. Tourism is a major component of Maine’s rural economy, generating $2.3 billion in visitor spending in 2017 and providing employment for over 39,000 people: it must be an important part of any revitalization strategy. The Maine Woods—Henry David Thoreau’s evocative term for our vast northern forest—has a long and storied history as a tourist destination. For more than a century and a half, sports and rusticators, mostly from the Northeast, have recreated at interior Maine’s special places including the Mahoosuc Range, Rangeley Lake, Moosehead Lake, Baxter State Park, and Grand Lake Stream. In recent decades, winter sports, cultural events, and fall leaf-peeping excursions have expanded and enriched the menu of attractions in these areas. Past and present, the fundamental appeal of the Maine Woods has been the same: iconic lake, mountain, and forest landscapes, far from the bustle and bright lights of the city. In the words of tourism consultants Future iQ, “the region includes a wide range of unique landscapes that create a huge outdoor recreation canvas. From a visitor perspective, this creates an incredibly exciting and enticing nature-based destination” (FiQ 2018a: 5). Maine’s long tradition of public access to millions of acres of private lands is a crucial enabler of outdoor recreation. Moreover, since the 1990s, it has been reinforced by extensive public and nonprofit land acq
{"title":"Reshaping Maine Woods Destinations for Twenty-First-Century Tourists","authors":"D. Vail, Donna Moreland, Mike Wilson","doi":"10.53558/hdvw4563","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/hdvw4563","url":null,"abstract":"Maine’s rim counties—here called the Maine Woods region—suffer from chronic economic and community distress, marked by declines in several resource-based industries, an ongoing youth exodus, and a rapidly aging population. Nonetheless, many encouraging new ventures are helping to revitalize the Maine Woods economy and communities, and tourism and recreation should play a central role in these efforts. This article focuses on initiatives launched through a partnership between the 16-member Maine Woods Consortium and the Maine Office of Tourism designed to reinvigorate Maine Woods’ recreation and hospitality offerings and to enrich amenities in the region’s gateway communities. M rim counties, the term we use for the Maine Woods region, suffer from chronic economic distress and community erosion. Rural Maine is not unique, of course. Across rural America, there are similar patterns of low and stagnant incomes, job loss in traditional resource-based industries, heavy dependence on government supports, on-going out-migration of youth, and rapidly aging populations. Analysts stress that these long-evolving conditions have deep structural causes and thus no simple fix (Hendrickson Muro, and Galston 2018; Krugman 2019). Nonetheless, efforts to launch new lead sectors and revitalize rural economies abound, from cross-laminated timber to telemedicine and craft brewing. In the Maine Woods region, many encouraging tourism initiatives are reshaping the venerable recreation economy to meet twenty-first-century leisure travelers’ changing preferences and to tap their spending power. Tourism is a major component of Maine’s rural economy, generating $2.3 billion in visitor spending in 2017 and providing employment for over 39,000 people: it must be an important part of any revitalization strategy. The Maine Woods—Henry David Thoreau’s evocative term for our vast northern forest—has a long and storied history as a tourist destination. For more than a century and a half, sports and rusticators, mostly from the Northeast, have recreated at interior Maine’s special places including the Mahoosuc Range, Rangeley Lake, Moosehead Lake, Baxter State Park, and Grand Lake Stream. In recent decades, winter sports, cultural events, and fall leaf-peeping excursions have expanded and enriched the menu of attractions in these areas. Past and present, the fundamental appeal of the Maine Woods has been the same: iconic lake, mountain, and forest landscapes, far from the bustle and bright lights of the city. In the words of tourism consultants Future iQ, “the region includes a wide range of unique landscapes that create a huge outdoor recreation canvas. From a visitor perspective, this creates an incredibly exciting and enticing nature-based destination” (FiQ 2018a: 5). Maine’s long tradition of public access to millions of acres of private lands is a crucial enabler of outdoor recreation. Moreover, since the 1990s, it has been reinforced by extensive public and nonprofit land acq","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44199713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Demographics of Suicide Victims in Maine for 2017 and 2018 with Emphasis on Suicide Notes","authors":"V. Rideout, R. Kennard, A. Wilcox, M. Flomenbaum","doi":"10.53558/xsyb5741","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/xsyb5741","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42590393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Marginalization of Faculty and the Quantification of Educational Policy: Lessons from My Many Years on Faculty Senates","authors":"H. Segal","doi":"10.53558/phct1959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/phct1959","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70613127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Myth of Electability: What It Really Takes for Women to Win","authors":"Emma Cain","doi":"10.53558/qdoa7562","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/qdoa7562","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70613253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections: MPR and the World: Connections, Conversations, and Outreach","authors":"L. Silka","doi":"10.53558/kvuv4356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/kvuv4356","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44927685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Adaptive Challenges of Leadership in Maine Schools","authors":"R. Ackerman, Ian M. Mette, Catharine Biddle","doi":"10.53558/ckpl4181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/ckpl4181","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46715704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Importance of Leadership: Insights from Major Business Leaders in Maine","authors":"L. Silka","doi":"10.53558/zexl4766","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/zexl4766","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45364369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Maine’s Public Estate and Conservation Lands: Brief History and Assessment","authors":"L. Irland","doi":"10.53558/gybz2646","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.53558/gybz2646","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34576,"journal":{"name":"Maine Policy Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46651042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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