Ecotourism can be defined as responsible travel to natural locations that fosters connections between the nature, culture, and history of an area while supporting local people and their economy. Because of its strong natural history, proximity to several large cities, and existing tourism infrastructure, northwestern Pennsylvania is an ideal area for ecotourism development. The Center for Economic and Environmental Development of Allegheny College, in collaboration with Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau, is leading the way in ecotourism and nature-based tourism development with the establishment of a dedicated Environmental Tourism project in Crawford County, which includes this Web site. This region has historically based much of its cultural, historic, and economic identity on its natural resources. With the emergence of tourism as one of the most important industries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and with natural resources having long been a strong recreational interest of vacationing Americans, there exists tremendous potential for this region of the state to tap into a large and lucrative tourist market. This project encourages the adoption of ecologically sustainable development
principles for the Crawford County tourism industry and works with the
community, industry and government agencies to facilitate sustainable
development.
This web site directs the reader's attention to the wide variety of opportunities for persons interested in nature tourism and ecotourism opportunities in northwest Pennsylvania. It also directs the viewer to other websites that provide further information on the listed sites and activities of interest, as well as to websites that provide helpful background information on pertinent environmental issues. This long-term project was designed and built as collaboration among Allegheny College students, the Allegheny College Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED), the Crawford County Convention and Visitor's Bureau (CCCVB), and the Meadville-Western Crawford Chamber of Commerce (MWCCC).
Project Director: Richard D. Bowden, Associate Professor, Allegheny College, Department of Environmental Science. Project Partner: Juanita Hampton, Executive Director, Crawford County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Meadville, PA. Project Technical Advisor: Linda "Lin" S. Sutley, Secretary, Allegheny College, Department of Environmental Science.
Project Development Cindee Giffen '99 was critical to early formation of the site by assembling and organizing much of the information needed to develop the project. In spring and summer 1998, Giffen presented our ecotourism efforts to the Annual Meeting of the Allegheny Watershed Network, which was interested in examining the potential of ecotourism to protect the watershed, and to a legislative hearing on parks and tourism hosted by PA Rep. Rod Wilt. Overall Web Development Giffen and Bowden assembled most of the information eventually included in the web site. Curt Stumpf ('02) was the chief architect and designer of the web site, which was launched in the spring of 2001 and formally introduced at a press conference in October 2001. Lin Sutley has been critical to technical maintenance of the site. Additional information for the project has been provided by Allegheny Students Kelly Angleberger ('04), Maureen Copeland ('04), Ben Houghton ('04), and Dave Thompson ('00). Crucial to the development of the website was participation by students enrolled in courses in the Allegheny Department of Environmental Science. These courses and students include:
Additional input to the project came from the following senior theses:
Driving Tours The idea for the driving tours originated from a request to CEED from Juanita Hampton for a fall driving tour that could be used to promote Crawford County. Bowden and Hampton later developed that idea into the prospect of driving ecotours. Potential commercial bus ecotours for the region produced by students in the classes ES 582 (Fall 1998 and Spring 1999) provided the foundation for possible driving tours. Laura Paich's senior thesis developed these bus tours into ten carefully planned individual driving tours, complete with itineraries, background information, maps, and web links. CEED student summer interns Chad Cochrane ('03) and Ben Rosenthal (Ithaca College, '03) were responsible for editing, web design, and web construction of the tours. Mercyhurst Prep Junior Mike Storey also assisted with tour editing. Other Contributors Former CCCVB Director Judy Kough and Bonnie Spang of Renaissance Tours were especially supportive during the early phases of this work. Current MWCCC Executive Director Charlie Anderson, Bud and Carol Luce, former owners of French Creek Canoe and Kayak, and Brian Hill, VP for Watersheds, Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Director of the French Creek Project, have been very encouraging of ecotourism efforts. Financial Support Allegheny College, The French Creek Project, The Howard Heinz Endowment, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development have provided financial assistance for this effort.
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