Preserving Perdido watershed could bolster tourism

Preserving Perdido watershed could bolster tourism

By Deborah Nelson
March 21, 2008

A newly-formed advocacy group is hoping grassroots efforts to preserve Perdido area wetlands, waterways and trails will bolster tourism in the process.

The Perdido Watershed Ecotourism Project, headed up by Escambia County Soil and Water Conservation District Board member Anne Bennett, is guiding efforts to preserve and connect area trails and recreation attractions, and encourage low-impact ecotourism.

The group hopes to work with government and civic groups to preserve Perdido’s natural resources and expand ecotourism. They’ll work on bringing the public in to participate, and hope to draft a citizens’ petition with some long-term suggestions in the future.

“The bay has a large area of wetlands not suitable for housing & commerce, but with minimal investment could give great returns from ecotourism,” the group’s mission statement reads.

“This is my personal project,” Bennett said. “It’s not yet adopted as a Board project, but I expect that it will be.”

Volunteers met March 7 to go over preliminary goals.

Efforts to protect Perdido watershed’s creeks and wetlands began 15 years ago, Bennett pointed out, but inter-agency conflicts doomed the project from the start.

“It was like a brick wall,” she recounted.

As global population numbers continue to soar, the fate of natural resources is taking on a new urgency.

“It’s vital to protect food quantity and quality and the resources that produce them, such as wetlands and agriculture land,” Bennett remarked.

“Being dependent on foreign oil absolutely pales in comparison to being dependent on foreign food.”

Delicate lake, marsh and river ecosystems that run through Perdido’s wildlife habitat and scenery; bird and butterfly flyways; hunting land and other recreation spots are already endangered, she pointed out.

“What we have is being loved to death,” Bennett remarked.

Protecting and connecting natural areas could help expand the tourist season and the hospitality industry, for a minimal investment, say Watershed Ecotourism project proponents. Protecting what’s already out there may draw tourists who spend money on other things, as well.

Ecotourists typically seek unspoiled, natural areas to canoe, camp, birdwatch and bask in the scenery.

“It requires few and minor tax paid amenities, generates little to no need for additional policing and clean up. It does attract responsible and affluent people who spend freely on other enterprises,” a project release notes.

“Ecotourism is a new buzzword, and people are beginning to look at crowding,” Bennett remarked.

“Basically, they just want you to leave it alone,” she added. “There would be minimal investment, but it would garner significant rewards.”

The project vision centers on preserving and linking Perdido Bay’s watershed system of rivers, creeks and wetlands through a long, interconnected recreational system. Water, trails and perhaps rail would join amenities like parks, campsites, golfing, the Horse Arena, shopping, schools, and other recreation assets.

Perdido’s watershed is geographically located in an ideal spot to serve as the start of Florida’s Circumnavigate Florida Canoe Trail & the Florida birding trail, say Project proponents. They’re hoping, one day, to see the Perdido River designated a National Wild and Scenic River, with new campsites and hiking paths extending downstream along area rivers and creeks.

“The idea is to tie all of this together,” Bennett said.

Some of the lands in question already fall under Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wetlands jurisdictional oversight.

To acquire the necessary additional property to form an unbroken trail, the Watershed Ecotourism project would explore possibilities for voluntary land and easement purchases, donations, and other agreements with area landowners.

“Some will like to see property stay wild,” Bennett predicts.

The Perdido Watershed area is not currently included in Florida’s Office of Greenways and Trails acquisition program, according to OGT spokesperson Robin Turner. The voluntary program designates land and paddling trails, and offers liability protection to private owners who grant easement access, she said. It requires a designated authority, like a city council, to agree to serve as a long-term manager for trail systems.

Turner suggested interested citizens submit detailed data on trail and waterway locations to OGT’s website, http://www.floridadep.org/gwt/, to help the process along.

“It could take 20 years, but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be a vision that the community could wrap their arms around,” she remarked.

Demand is increasing for kayaking vacations, said OGT spokesman Doug Allison, because newer craft are healthy, green and lightweight. He suggested increasing the availability of interconnected ‘blueway’ canoe routes, geared to day and weekend users, could draw visitors even without established campsites available.

Escambia County is currently conducting a ‘sector plan’ to address future development within the 16,000 acres located between I-10, the Perdido River, Hwy. 196 and Hwy. 29.

Major development is in the wind for the area, according to Jerry Langston, who is working with the engineering consultant firm MSCW, Inc. on the plan. Planners are interested in the area’s ecotourism potential, he said.

Responding to questions about Perdido Bay pollution levels, Bennett pointed out the area is one of the last places left in Florida where campers can still experience the illusion of natural isolation.

“While it may not be perfect, it’s about Florida’s last opportunity,” she noted.

Ecotourism Project volunteers agree finding a way to preserve and link area environmental assets will be a long and complicated process.

“I realize we’re talking about a long-term, work it out system,” Bennett remarked. “There are tasks to be done, there are problems to be worked out, there are things that aren’t what you would like them to be. That doesn’t mean you should not try.”

For more information on the Perdido Watershed Ecotourism Project, contact organizers at 456-5620 or 432-5209.