Have you ever heard of Kenedy, Texas? What about Falls City, Helena, Runge, or Goliad? Surely you know of the San Antonio Riverwalk? The San Antonio River doesn’t suddenly halt once it passes the Alamo. The river flows south to San Antonio Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The spaces in between San Antonio and the Gulf, however, are relatively unknown even among Texans.
Mission Nuestra Señora del Rosario (established in 1754)Fermata is part of a team that has been engaged by the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) to develop a holistic watershed plan for the lower San Antonio River in Karnes and Goliad counties. Our role is to develop sustainable park and recreation plans. Currently we are designing conceptual plans for a linear park along Escondido Creek in Kenedy, and the restoration of Lake Paul in Runge. Part of our planning includes expanding the San Antonio River water trail, and to consider ways to develop hike-and-bike trails on the original San Antonio / Aransas Pass rail bed.
The past is also part of our investigations, and this region is incredibly rich in Spanish Colonial and Texas history. The Oxcart Trail, the El Camino Real de los Tejas, Camp Kenedy (a WWII internment camp), La Bahia, and longhorn cattle drives are but a part of what the lower San Antonio River has to offer. Our thanks go to SARA and to URS (the prime on the contract) for allowing us to participate in such a remarkable project.
Green Jay, Laguna Atascosa NWRFermata began working in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of South Texas in the early 1990s. Our first project involved developing the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail for Texas Parks and Wildlife in that area. We followed that work with the feasibility study for the World Birding Center, the strategic plan for the World Birding Center, nature tourism strategies for several of the communities there such as Mission, Weslaco, and South Padre, a feasibility study for the new centers at Weslaco and South Padre Island, and interpretive enhancements at Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen.
Early in our work we assessed the economic impacts of nature tourism in key LRGV sites such as Santa Ana NWR, Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, and the Sabal Palms sanctuary near Brownsville. At that time (at least 15 years ago) we estimated an annual impact of $125 million from nature tourism in South Texas. A number of people were surprised by that figure, and questioned its accuracy. How could birders and other nature tourists contribute so much to that economy?
In recent months a study by Texas A&M has covered the same ground. This research comes after the implementation of much of the work listed above. Texas A&M now estimates that the impact is $300 million per year, almost three times our original estimate made prior to the community, state, and federal investments.
The communities there have been on board from the very beginning, and the results show the importance of their commitment and investments. Texas Parks and Wildlife has led the effort from the outset, and their investments (including two new state parks) have been invaluable. Congratulations to all involved in making South Texas a model for nature tourism development!
Kinzua Bridge SP Sky WalkAnother of Fermata’s strategic plans has been implemented. Ted developed a brief strategy for Pennsylvania’s Kinzua Bridge State Park after the railroad trestle met with fate in the form of a tornado. This park is near Bradford and the New York state line, yet although isolated the trestle (and the train that once operated here) attracted significant numbers of visitors. Ted’s plan recommended the creation of a sky walk at the end of the remaining structure (Ted remembers standing at the end of the destroyed trestle in 10 degree weather, wondering how he became interested in this profession in the first place). Congratulations to PA DCNR for following through on the plan, and particularly to Meredith Hill of DCNR for continuing the legacy of the PA Wilds. We can’t wait to visit!
For the past several years Fermata has been a supporter of NAI, the National Association for Interpretation. Ted met Lisa Brochu, NAI’s Associate Director, while in Texas. Yet over the years our involvement has been limited to participating in national events and the like.
Last year, however, Ted became interested in NAI’s certification process. There are only a few certification programs in our field available internationally, and NAI’s is the only one that focuses on interpretation. Given the importance of interpretation to our work, Ted decided to participate in NAI’s program and to become certified himself. As with so much that we do, unless we have actually done the work ourselves it is hard to recommend a program to our clients.
Ted learned yesterday that he has completed all of the requirements for certification in interpretive planning and in heritage interpretation. Both of these are professional certifications, where the work completed is reviewed by peers in the profession. Ted is completing the final requirements to be certified in interpretive training, and should have that certification in hand by fall.
The more we are involved in NAI the more we are impressed with the program and the people. Fermata has been involved in a number of organizations that relate to our work, and with NAI we truly feel at home. If you are interested in learning more about NAI, or about the types of work and projects for which Fermata is certified, please contact us directly.
Giant Sequoia in Belnap GroveTed attended a National Association for Interpretation (NAI) certification seminar in Porterville, California, this past week. Porterville is one of the gateways to the Giant Sequoia National Monument. Seven teams worked on interpretive plans for the Monument during the week, and presented their work on Friday (the last day of the session). On the team with Ted were Marianne Emmendorfer of the US Forest Service in California and Joe Lomicky with Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. This session, on interpretive planning, is the final certification seminar in a series for Ted (at least for the foreseeable future).
On Monday several of the groups sped from Porterville to the Forest to see the nearest grove of sequoias. These trees are among the largest and oldest living organisms on earth, with the oldest reaching an age of 3000 years. Words cannot describe how humbled one feels when first standing at the base of one of these giants.
The interpretive plan and Powerpoint from the final day’s presentation by Marianne, Joe, and Ted have been posted to the Fermata website.
Thanks to NAI, follow participants, and particularly Marianne and Joe for a wonderfully stimulating and productive week.
