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NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS RC&D AREA
Tourism Projects
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here to view other Northwest Area Projects
The Buffalo National River is located in the NW AR RC&D Area, and its scenic
beauty continues to make it a nationally famous outdoor attraction. The Buffalo provides
many recreational opportunities not only for tourists, but for local residents as well. |
| Traditional tourism is very important to the economy
throughout NW Arkansas. However, in recent years there has been an increasing interest in
a different kind of tourism – Ecotourism. Ecotourism is defined as "Purposeful
travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and natural history of the environment,
taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic
opportunities that make the conservation of natural resources financially beneficial to
local citizens. |
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The Northwest Arkansas RC&D Council formed a
partnership, including the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department, the Newton County
Resource Council, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, the Arkansas
Forestry Commission, the US Forest Service and others to help educate people about
Ecotourism as a rural economic development strategy. With a grant from the US Forest
Service, this RC&D Partnership sponsored and coordinated the writing, publishing and
on going distribution of a 144-page "Ecotourism Development Manual". The
Partnership’s intention is for this manual to serve as a tool, or guidebook, to
illustrate the foundational steps for Ecotourism development at the community level. We
believe the case studies; guiding principles and step-by-step instructions found in this
Manual are applicable and beneficial for developing an Ecotourism program anywhere in the
world. Copies of the Ecotourism Development Manual are $12.00 each and may be
obtained by contacting the Northwest Arkansas RC&D Council. |
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