Rural Maine, from Oxford County in the west, north to Aroostook and “down east” to Washington County, faces several economic challenges. Incomes are lower and unemployment and poverty rates higher than in prosperous southern Maine. These gaps have perpetuated a decades-long exodus of rural youth, leaving behind a rapidly aging population.

The state has implemented policies in response to these longstanding problems. But, as Charles Colgan and Richard Barringer observe, “There has been nothing resembling a consistent, comprehensive rural development strategy that integrates the many program fragments.”

In Rep. Mike Michaud’s words, “We all have a stake in bringing prosperity to rural Maine.” So in 2005, the Maine Center for Economic Policy launched an exploration of rural development strategy, “Spreading Prosperity to All of Maine.”

Our latest report, “A Lead Sector Strategy for Rural Maine,” makes the case for promoting two service sectors – health care and tourism – because they account for more than one in four rim county jobs, bring in outside revenues, have strong links to other rural sectors, contribute greatly to community vitality – and have untapped growth potential. Certainly rural economic strategy must promote many sectors, from wood composites to the “creative economy.” But health care and tourism have a special potential to spread regional prosperity.

Here are a few of our recommendations:

Health care work force development: a range of occupations

In sheer numbers, new health care jobs have more than offset losses in rural manufacturing. To upgrade job quality, state strategy should encourage counseling, rehabilitation and physical therapy providers to locate in rural areas. This will better meet the needs of an aging population, while creating more midlevel and high-skill health careers for residents and prospective in-migrants. This will require the state to shape a coordinated health care work force preparation system, from elementary- through graduate-level programs.

Health care technology: telemedicine

The growing complexity of health care services means that rural hospitals and physicians’ offices often have the regions’ most advanced information-communication technologies. Maine should aggressively support this “telemedicine revolution” by accelerating investment in rural health care telecommunications and digital information infrastructure. This will have dual benefits: improving health care in remote areas while also creating high-wage information technology jobs and information infrastructure to stimulate other economic sectors.

Tourism destination development: twin parks

A “big push” tourism strategy would use our nearly 3 million acres of protected lands to shape a Great Maine Woods Recreational Network. The GMW would feature renowned natural attractions such as Moosehead Lake, Mount Katahdin and the Cutler Bold Coast, weaving a whole greater than the sum of its parts. This strategy requires a major investment to network high-value recreational lands and dramatically upgrade the “green infrastructure” (visitors’ centers, trails, signs, transportation) that makes nature attractive and accessible to visitors. We can strengthen the Great Maine Woods “brand” by positioning it as the inland half of a “twin parks” destination, with world-famous Acadia National Park anchoring the coast and Bangor as the hub.

Destination development: a Maine Woods National Heritage Area

Nature draws visitors to rural Maine, but today’s discriminating “experiential tourist” chooses destinations offering diverse, high-quality attractions. Rural Maine must develop and promote its heritage sites and cultural activities to complement its natural wonders. Congressional designation as a National Heritage Area is a potent tourism development and marketing tool. With NHA status, Thoreau’s Maine Woods would be promoted under the National Park Service banner (without federal control) and would receive an injection of several million dollars to strengthen and promote heritage itineraries.

Tourism product development: world-class services supporting livable wage jobs

Rural Maine’s best practice guides, sporting camps, and restaurants offer top-quality service. But tourism entrepreneurs, on the whole, have not aimed for a quality standard that can attract discriminating customers and build a world-class reputation. Too often, this reflects frontline employees’ limited skills and commitment, and not surprisingly most tourism jobs do not pay a livable wage. The big push strategy would help hundreds of small tourism businesses adopt best management practices and offer premium services with high priority given to strengthening employees’ skills. The effort would center on business outreach and employee training services offered by the University of Maine and community colleges through the new Center for Tourism Research and Outreach, or CenTRO.

These health care and tourism initiatives are the core of a strategy for spreading prosperity to rural Maine. By tapping their growth potential, we can offer rural residents and working people a brighter future.

David Vail is Adams-Catlin Professor of Economics at Bowdoin College. Lisa Pohlmann is associate director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy. They recently edited MECEP’s new report, “Health Care and Tourism: A Lead Sector Strategy for Rural Maine” (www.mecep.org).