Tourism Stakeholders Envision a Sustainable Path: Strengthening Maine\u27s No. 1 Industry through the Blaine House Conference Recommendations

Tourism, as Maine’s No. 1 industry, draws approximately 44 million visitors annually who spend $6 billion and contribute$340 million in sales tax. Despite these figures, annual statistics show zero growth or, often, loss, with the exception of the outdoor recreation sector. The tourism industry, made of government bodies, recreation associations and individual businesses, depends on the health of the natural resources and the compliance of related players, such as landowners. Discontent exists with the state and the industry’s leadership. The quandary comes in determining which actions to take to improve the state’s existing nature-based tourism into a sustainable industry that nurtures the natural and cultural resources as it develops economic opportunities. On Nov. 17, 2003, Gov. John Baldacci hosted the Blaine House Conference on Natural Resource-based Industries to gather stakeholders together. For the first time, tourism was included at the same table as the other natural resource industries to enhance how they operate individually and together. The tourism sector produced four proposals: increased educational efforts, strengthened state government roles and responsibilities, enhanced economic development planning and improved branding strategies. This study, independent of the conference and funded by the Office of Tourism, gathered voices of tourism stakeholders to understand opinions on interrelated topics covering the entire state. Methods included semi-structured interviews of 43 private, public and non-profit stakeholders placed in three tourism categories – direct, indirect and related. Direct stakeholders sell a tourism product or experience; indirect stakeholders come from non-tourism businesses, such as landowners; and related stakeholders work for government, non-profits or academia. The purpose of this study is to pinpoint what is threatening the industry and to gain an understanding of the potential for a unified sustainable tourism vision. Participants were asked to describe the present state of the industry, what is being done well, what is being done poorly, recommendations for action and an ideal for the industry. Qualitative inquiry, used increasingly in tourism research, details richness and complexity. Responses were analyzed in the context of the Blaine House recommendations. Findings reflect the disorder of the industry, capturing a frustrated tone pervasive at all levels. Recommendations can develop opportunities incorporating sustainability principles. Suggestions include: • Create an interagency state tourism board, including paid private entrepreneurs, to have all relevant parties at the same table • Broaden the mandate of the Office of Tourism to do more than marketing, such as infrastructure and community development • Design a master plan, through industry and government efforts, to distribute to towns to make them aware of tourism’s potential and to allow them to implement their own strategies • Analyze land access to allow or limit recreational experiences to decrease user conflicts, ensure high-quality opportunities and maintain good landowner relations In conclusion, tourism’s future depends on more analysis of stakeholder input so industry leaders can have buy-in from varied players and can guide policy. In the process, the industry needs to measure success by the quality of the experience, which will ensure return visitation with economic, ecological and cultural benefits

The Life and Miracles of Fisher Alumnus… Yesterday and Tomorrow

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. Walking through the corridors of Basil Hall as a freshman one day, accompanied by my twin sister, Julie, I was stopped by a man of small stature with a gentle face. He peered through his tinted glasses, smiled and invited us to sign up for his “World Religions” class. At least that was what we thought we were able to decipher throughout the conversation as his thick Italian accent would take us quite some time to get accustomed to

Examining the impacts of beaver dam analogues and groundwater storage on Miners Creek, California

Beavers have been altering streams in North America for millions of years by impounding water behind their dams. The recent historical removal (intensely throughout the 18th and 19th century) of these dams altered the hydrology in low gradient streams from dynamic anastomosing streams and wet meadow complexes to incised channels with little structural diversity. Anthropogenic structures called Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) are used as a restorative process by mimicking natural beaver dams that can reverse channel incision, increase ponded and groundwater storage, and provide low velocity habitat for aquatic species and vegetation. A system of four original BDAs was installed on Miners Creek and monitoring data was collected over the course of six years from water year 2016-2021. Here, monitoring data from water year 2021 is used to determine reach-scale storage dynamics and BDA recharge, ponded storage, and habitat suitability for juvenile coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) based on ponded depth. The reach on Miners Creek was found to be predominantly a losing reach with BDA recharge only occurring during the onset of the wet season. At their maximum, ponds were found to increase storage by up to ~36 m3. During the dry summer months, however, there was not sufficient habitat to support recruitment of juvenile coho. This was shown to be predominantly due to issues stemming from a combination of issues pertaining to BDA structural integrity, water availability, and seasonal changes in water usage within the watershed

Nature-based Tourism in Maine: The State’s Role in Promoting a Strong Tourism Industry

Tourism is Maine’s largest industry and, perhaps also, one of the least well understood and appreciated by the state’s citizens. Conventional wisdom suggests that tourism yields unwanted crowds and low-paying jobs. Yet closer analysis suggests that tourism does and has a yet-to-be-realized potential to enhance the well-being and sustainability of communities, particularly through high-quality, nature-based experiences that leverage Maine’s extraordinary landscapes, wilderness, and rural culture. Elizabeth Munding and John Daigle summarize what was learned as a result of Munding’s interviews with close to 50 tourism stakeholders throughout Maine. Although this study covered four major aspects of Maine’s tourism industry, here the authors focus on the state’s role and responsibilities in strengthening, promoting, and sustaining a nature-based tourism industry in Maine

Getting Rid of e-Books in the SFX Knowledge Base

The poster provides an overview on e-book resources available in the MPG, introduces the MPG e-Book Catalog and discusses the dynamic integration of e-Book holdings into the service menu of the MPG/SFX link resolver

A forráshasználat újragondolása : Ada és Alexandros találkozása az Alexandros-történetíróknál

Curtius Rufus és Iustinus kivételével a főbb Alexandros-történetírók mindegyike (Diodóros, Strabón, Plutarchos, Arrhianos) beszámolt valamilyen formában arról, hogy Alexandros Kr. e. 334-ben valahol, egy nem pontosított helyszínen találkozott Karia korábbi uralkodónőjével, Adával, akit testvére, Pixódaros megfosztott hatalmától. A találkozás eredményeként Alexandros segítette Adát, és végül visszaültette őt hatalmába. A szerzők leírásai eltérnek a találkozás részleteit és következményeit illetően, a legnagyobb problémát mégis az jelenti, hogy egyetlen történetíró sem nevezte meg beszámolójában azt a forrást vagy azokat a forrásokat, akiket felhasznált. A kutatók számos szempontból foglalkoztak ezzel a történettel; fő kérdésük az volt, hogy mely úgynevezett első generációs szerzők információira vezethetők vissza ezek a leírások. Tanulmányomban ehhez a témához kívánok hozzászólni, így górcső alá veszem az eddigi kutatói elméleteket, hogy igazoljam az Alexandros-kutatásban a Quellenforschung módszerének szükségességét, ugyanakkor felhívjam a figyelmet e módszer alkalmazásának határaira. With the exception of Curtius Rufus and Justin, almost all of the main “Alexander historians” (Diodorus, Strabo, Plutarch, Arrian) reported in some form that Alexander, in 334 BC, somewhere in an unspecified location met the former queen of Caria, Ada, who had been deposed by her own brother, Pixodarus. As a result of the encounter, Alexander helped Ada and finally reinstated her as queen of Caria. Authors descriptions differ regarding the details and consequences of the encounter, yet, the principal problem is that no historian has named the source or sources he used in his account. Scholars have examined this story from many points of view. Their main question was: which of the so-called “first generation” sources these descriptions could have been drawn from. In my paper, I wish to comment on this topic, so I will examine the earlier and recent research theories in order to prove the necessity of the Quellenforschung method concerning the Alexander research and, at the same time, to draw attention to the limits of the application of this method

„Web 2.0“ im Aleph-OPAC

Vorstellung einiger web 2.0-Funktionalitäten, die im Aleph-OPAC möglich sind

Allgemeine Katalogisierungsregeln für eigene E-Books

Aufbereitung der "Praxisanweisung zur Erfassung von E-Books und Digitalisaten" der AG Kooperative Neukatalogisierun