Northern Maine tourism discussed

BANGOR – More needs to be done to promote sustainable tourism in the northern part of the state, according to an official who spoke Tuesday at Eastern Maine Development Corp.

Steps have been taken in Piscataquis County to promote the area’s cultural and natural heritage, Roger Merchant told a group of 20 people who attended a Tuesday luncheon at EMDC. Merchant, an educator with University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Dover-Foxcroft, said that communities in Piscataquis and northern Penobscot counties need to take a more active role in attracting visitors to their part of the state, which is heavily wooded and has a rich logging history.

“The story of the Maine woods is mostly buried and invisible,” Merchant said. “There is an abundance of natural resources to attract tourism.”

There are exceptions in northern Maine, such as the Lumbermen’s Museum in Patten, but in other regions of the country such as the Midwest or wooded parts of the eastern seaboard, there have been more concerted efforts to promote nature-related and rural tourism, according to Merchant. Examples of this include the Handmade in America artisan program in North Carolina and the Lumber Heritage Region in Pennsylvania.

Sometimes, marketing efforts can bring surprising but welcome results. After being prompted by Merchant, Paul Hilchey-Chandler of Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau said an event last winter brought some unanticipated attention to northern Maine.

When Alexandra and Garrett Conover of Willimantic walked nearly 200 miles from Greenville to Allagash last winter to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, the biggest response came from bridal magazines, Hilchey-Chandler said.

Communities that may want more tourists, however, have to decide how much they want to publicize what some residents view as local secrets, Merchant said. The notion of sustainable tourism also should take into account how the local quality of life can be sustained.

“That’s the dilemma,” Merchant said. “That’s what we have to work through.”