USA: Establishing Birthplace Of Rivers Protects, Preserves Grows Tourism

March 22 is World Water Day, a time to appreciate the benefits of clean water to our lives and our local economies. In West Virginia, clean water means everything to the whitewater and adventure travel industries.

Members of the West Virginia Professional River Outfitters Association have seen many changes in the whitewater industry over the years. But one thing has remained consistent: Our businesses and the state’s tourism industry rely on clean rivers. Nothing defines wild and wonderful like our world-class rivers and the mountains where they are born.

That’s why West Virginia’s outfitters and adventure tourism businesses are calling on President Obama to establish the Birthplace of Rivers National Monument in the southern Monongahela National Forest. The monument designation would preserve the headwaters that feed our renowned rivers, and recognize West Virginia’s highlands as the source of some of the cleanest water in the nation.

In 2014, the world’s attention turned to West Virginia during a water crisis that tarnished the entire state’s outdoor tourism reputation. Whitewater companies experienced firsthand the way changing perception impacts our tourism product. That was a tough year for our industry. River outfitters were among the most vocal supporters of the Birthplace of Rivers initiative. Sen. Joe Manchin assured us and other business leaders he would work to designate the monument as one way to highlight the quality of our water resources and turn our economy around.

West Virginians know our rivers offer some of the best outdoor experiences anywhere, but it seems like we’re constantly battling negative perceptions, fueled by stereotypes and headlines in national news that are rarely positive. What happens when we put a star on the map, declaring a place unique enough to warrant national monument status? As we know from other monuments, more visitors show up. Economies improve. People seem to know a place so special must be worth checking out.

Birthplace of Rivers, a tract of wild forests, bogs and geologic features that’s home to uniquely high concentration of headwaters — the start of six of West Virginia’s most famed rivers, to be exact — deserves to be a national monument. It’s time to create some positive headlines about water quality in our state, bringing new visitors and the dollars they’ll spend in local communities.

Around 42,000 additional visitors are expected to check out the Birthplace of Rivers, thanks to monument designation. When more people visit, more than just outfitters benefit. The estimated overall $14.5 million impact of national monument designation will be experienced by restaurants, small farms, local shops and lodging establishments, as well as local governments that depend on tourism-generated tax revenue. It’s more stability for employees in an outdoor recreation industry that already supports 82,000 jobs in the Mountain State.

Just ask businesses in northern New Mexico what a national monument does for marketing. For example, the Taos News recently cited the newly designated Río Grande del Norte National Monument as a reason why the local economy improved at a “rate that no one anticipated…” They go on to say that “tourism is one of the main economic drivers of economic growth.”

If northern New Mexico can do this, why can’t West Virginia? It’s not just a matter of wanting to protect headwaters and preserve traditional recreation access — the monument would do that. It’s also about growing the tourism economy and local tax base in ways we weren’t able to do before.

Many West Virginia business owners have waited for two years for Sen. Manchin to make good on his promise to introduce national monument legislation, but we can’t wait while another opportunity to boost the economy slips away. Now we’re turning our attention to the White House, because the president, as well as Congress, can create national monuments.

This effort has been West Virginia born, just like the headwaters in our highest mountains, and a lot of people are behind it. There couldn’t be a better time to boost our economy and make Mountaineers everywhere proud, simply by giving ‘Wild and Wonderful’ the national recognition it deserves.

Let’s celebrate World Water Day by protecting the Birthplace of Rivers.