The 120th Legislature sent a clear message to the state’s most eastern region, Washington County. There is only one Maine.

Washington County has had its share of disappointments and during the past decade, the region has not been the beneficiary of the tremendous economic changes that have swept the nation. A closer look reveals a region experiencing population decline, little economic growth, a decline in retail sales, “at-risk” natural resource-based industries and an increasingly “underemployed” work force. It is no secret that legislators have long shaken their heads in frustration as to how best help this distressed “other Maine.”

This time Washington County’s delegation carried to Augusta a promising solution to the region’s economic problems; the Downeast Heritage Center. Working together, business, community and tribal leaders drafted a plan for sustainable tourism development, envisioning cultural and nature-based tourism as a means to create new avenues of employment based on the region’s traditional strengths – rich history, rugged coastline, pristine lakes and rivers and abundant wildlife.

The Downeast Heritage Center will serve as the tourist destination site and as an important resource for the region’s many attractions. Augusta allocated $1 million, a resounding demonstration of support for Washington County’s plan for economic revitalization.

Challenged by diminished natural resources, geographic remoteness and rural characteristics, Washington County is not destined to be a major urban or manufacturing center. What might be perceived as obstacles to economic growth became potential opportunities for tourism development, by appealing to an increasing market niche that will travel distances to experience the unique natural wonders and cultural distinctiveness of an area.

Tourism is one of the fastest- growing service industries in the nation, and while tourism is Maine is estimated at more than $5 billion annually, Washington County captures the smallest percentage of the state’s tourism market. Historically the region has been a pass-through for people on their way into or out of Atlantic Canada. A recent market study showed that more than 800,000 people pass through Washington County annually, yet less than 40 percent stop.

What is notably lacking in Washington County is a tourism product that has high value and is easy to use. In the fall 2000 Maine Policy Review, author Charles Calhoun writes, “Washington County has an interesting story to tell – one that will draw people to it – amid some of the most beautiful and unspoiled scenery on the Atlantic Coast – but you have to work hard at finding it.”

Spread out over a remote area, sites are not easy to find, often unmarked, and their fascinating stories are not explained. In Passamaquoddy Bay swirls Old Sow whirlpool, the largest whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere. Yet nowhere along Route 1 is this incredible natural wonder promoted. A small sign in Pembroke will direct you to Reversing Falls; still, you may have difficulty finding them, and once there, no signs interpret this unique phenomenon.

In a rural area, the goal of being a tourism destination can only be realized if attractions are aggregated and promoted as one. The center will promote Washington County as a whole and then redistribute visitors to the various sites, ideally lengthening the visit itself.

The center will tell the story of the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Machias and the St. Croix River Valley who have for thousands of years lived with every aspect of the forest, the estuary, and the sea. Passamaquoddy exhibits will showcase one of the oldest archeological heritages in North America. Demonstrations on the weaving of traditional baskets of ash and sweet grass, wood carvings, beadwork, or birch bark canoe making will be regularly featured including oral history presentations, drumming and other culturally distinct programs.

The center will also tell the story of the French settlers on the Island of St. Croix in 1604, the first capital of the French colony of l’Acadie and the birthplace of French heritage in North America. The year 2004 marks the 400th anniversary of this historic event, and exhibits in the center will highlight the legacy of the St. Croix Island settlement and its significance in both American and Canadian history.

Another exhibitor will be the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, the northern refuge in the Atlantic Flyway, a migratory route that follows the eastern coast of North America. Exhibits will show the many ways to experience this vast wilderness area with more than 50 miles of dirt roads available for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing as well as opportunities for solitude including photography or canoeing in the refuge’s streams and inland lakes.

The center will house artifacts of early enterprises in fishing, including weirs and smokehouses, shipping and ship-building, logging, and quarrying. It will showcase the world-class environment that lies inside the forests and beyond the forest’s edge, across glacially scarred blueberry barrens to the tidal shores of the Bay of Fundy.

A popular aspect of heritage tourism is “packaging” exhibits with eco-tourism experiences. For example, the Center will combine exhibits on the history, flora and fauna along Washington County’s rivers with guided backpacking or canoeing trips. Tour operators and guides will have access to the Center’s visitors, providing a link for those who want hands-on, nature-related activities. Local entrepreneurs can create ways to tap into the tourism market. The center will be an incubator for the small business sector by serving as a regional outlet for artisans, crafters, and cottage industries. A market feasibility study concluded that the center would be self-supporting, attracting 90,000 visitors annually, further requiring an enhanced tourism infrastructure including inns, restaurants, retail shops and other amenities visitors need and enjoy.

Sitting at the gateway between the United States and the Maritime provinces, the center will be built on the banks of the St. Croix River in Calais, serving as the missing eastern “anchor” to complement Maine’s overall tourism product. Washington County has been working a long time to transform its economy and the Downeast Heritage Center will be the instrument of transformation for a very deserving region.

Jean Flahive is Downeast Heritage Center project developer with the Sunrise County Economic Council.