Capitalize on access to great resource, F&W agent says

Since Vicksburg was founded, the Mississippi River has been the largest and most reliable source of employment and revenue in the city. The shipping industry is legendary, and it still supports thousands of jobs and families. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers based operations here because of the city’s position on the river and has been increasing its presence since the flood of 1927. Riverboat casinos are the most recent boon, bringing millions in revenue taxes to local governments and schools each year.

But there is still economic potential floating past the city unfulfilled every day, said Ron Nassar, Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee Coordinator for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“What we have here is an opportunity to sell what we take for granted every day,” he said. “We have got one of the best-known recreational resources in the world here – it ranks right up there with the Rockies and the Grand Canyon – and we need to start capitalizing on it.”

Ron Nassar, coordinator for the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee, gives Rotarians his ideas on using the river for economic development. (Suzanne Feliciano * The Vicksburg Post)Outdoor recreational tourism is the largest-growing sect in the travel industry worldwide. It accounts for billions of dollars in sales and taxes each year across the United States, as well as millions of jobs. And yet, there is barely a handful of guides on the Lower Mississippi River near Vicksburg, and access to the river for paddling, camping and nature-viewing is limited and underdeveloped, said Nassar.

“The levees are necessary along the river in Mississippi, but they create a catch-22 when it comes to access,” he said. “The Lower Mississippi River is not an easy natural resource to access and enjoy. You can go out on it some days around here and never see another person.”

However, once accessed, the levees also make the Lower Mississippi River a vast wilderness.

“It’s basically the last wild, unfettered part of the river,” said Nassar.

An ideal location for visitors to have what those in the tourism industry call a “soft adventure.” Days spent paddling or fishing on the river, hiking along the many islands and viewing the abundance of wildlife, all topped off with nights spent camping on a sandbar or shoreline.

“There’s a large segment of society that thrives on this. They want a vacation with some teeth in it,” said Nassar. “If we can just get the people access, they are going to spend a tremendous amount of money locally. Providing more access requires a small amount of infrastructure.”Although many of the soft-adventurers may not actually spend their days and nights in Vicksburg, Nassar said the city would benefit from developing recreational tourism along the river through sales of camping gear, food and other necessities. It would create a larger demand for river guides like Quapaw Canoe Company founder John Ruskey.

By the numbersAccording to a 2006 study by the Outdoor Industry Foundation, outdoor recreational tourism in the United States:Contributes $730 billion annually to the U.S. economySupports nearly 6.5 million jobs across the countryGenerates $88 billion in annual state and national tax revenueGenerates $289 billion annually in retail sales and services in the U.S.”There’s definitely been an increase in paddlers on the Lower Mississippi, but not guides,” said Ruskey, a Clarksdale resident who has been providing guided tours of the river for the past 10 years. “It’s growing in popularity, and I think it will continue to grow even with a downturn in the economy. Americans are interested in rediscovering and exploring their heartland.”

Around Vicksburg, Nassar said the best – and only – two examples of outdoor recreational opportunity visitors have can be found at Tara Wildlife and the National Audubon Society Vicksburg chapter. Despite the birding and other wildlife programs they organize, Tara’s 18,000-acre wildlife sanctuary is not regularly open to the public and the National Audubon Society does not have any land in the area for people to explore.

Bill Seratt, Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director, said he has been speaking with National Audubon Society to develop an outdoor recreation and nature viewing guide for Warren County and the surrounding areas. It is not known when the guide would be produced.

The LMRCC is currently working on establishing a Lower Mississippi River Fishing Trail that would run 106 river miles from Helena to Arkansas City, Ark, throughout which public accesses would be developed to hundreds of acres of land for hiking and camping.

“We can create these kinds of access throughout the Lower Mississippi River; I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,” said Nassar. “This is a huge industry that is virtually undeveloped here. If we can develop it, we’re going to see local economies pick up due to the influx of tourists to areas where they can access the river.”