Nature Tourism Development

Texas Parks and Wildlife is seeking input form the public. This news release explains the effort and includes a link to a survey you can use to provide your input until Sept 26

AUSTIN – What do citizens think of the park systems in Texas? What kinds of outdoor recreational opportunities do they want? The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is seeking input from local stakeholders about the future of park systems in the state.

“We want to know more about Texans’ recreational habits, what’s working and areas where we could improve,” said TPWD Recreation Grants Program Manager Dana Lagarde. “Citizen input is vital in our development of the Texas Outdoor Recreation Plan (TORP) for 2012-2017.”

Lagarde said survey results will help TPWD identify outdoor recreation needs and guide funding opportunities through the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund and other grant programs. Examples of activities to consider for local parks include nature trails, splash pads and ball fields. State parks such as Government Canyon and Garner have been able to add acreage thanks to public needs assessments like the TORP.

Anyone may complete the survey on the TORP survey website from now through Sept. 26.——

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20110815b

Dana Lagarde

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

Recreation Grants Branch

Local Park Grants Section Manager

(512)389-8175

When thinking of nature tourism sites many people think first of places far from a big city. More and more this is changing as cities large and small enhance and develop more and better nature and wildlife park properties and work with private companies to provide services to resident recreationists and traveling tourists.
This week I am in El Paso to help local business owners and officials enhance thier nature tourism operations.
El Paso CVB recently launched a great Nature Tourism web site helping visitors find a great variety of outdoor activities.
http://visitelpaso.com/nature_tourism
Travel Wild!

Agrilife Extension Nature Tourism Program http://naturetourism.tamu.edu
Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University

News Brief:

Miles Phillips and colleagues have been awarded the $387,000 grant “MarketMaker Adoption and Implementation in Texas For the Gulf Seafood Industry”. The grant was funded by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to provide tools and increased opportunities for direct and other marketing opportunities for Texas seafood producers by providing online resources to better link seafood producers with potential buyers, consumers and other businesses throughout the food marketing chain.  The investigators are Mark Waller, Mike Haby, Marco Palma, Logan Respess, & Miles Phillips.  Miles Phillips will be working on the element of the project focused on coastal tourism providers and in particular recreational fishing guides. MarketMaker is an online market place developed by Extension and currently adopted by 17+ other states.

Agrilife Extension Nature Tourism Program http://naturetourism.tamu.edu
Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University

News Brief:

Miles Phillips and colleagues have been awarded the $387,000 grant “MarketMaker Adoption and Implementation in Texas For the Gulf Seafood Industry”. The grant was funded by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to provide tools and increased opportunities for direct and other marketing opportunities for Texas seafood producers by providing online resources to better link seafood producers with potential buyers, consumers and other businesses throughout the food marketing chain.  The investigators are Mark Waller, Mike Haby, Marco Palma, Logan Respess, & Miles Phillips.  Miles Phillips will be working on the element of the project focused on coastal tourism providers and in particular recreational fishing guides. MarketMaker is an online market place developed by Extension and currently adopted by 17+ other states.

Hello, Next week March 9-11, 2011 marks the National Extension Tourism Conference in Charleston, SC

Participants and Speakers from across North America will gather to share examples, techniques, ideas and data on the development of tourism and how both communities and individuals, agricultural landowners and others can succeed with tourism.

See http://extensiontourism.net for more information