Project introduced to put Estacada on the map

National Geographic seeks to highlight destination places

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Mar 11, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Estacada is home to two professional-level disc golf courses, the Clackamas River Trail, Portland’s early hydroelectric system and a host of cultural activities such as the Estacada Summer Celebration, the Best Dam Run and other events.

Last week, representatives from the Central Cascades Geotourism MapGuide introduced the geotourism mapping project to a group of Estacada residents, business owners and community leaders.

Sponsored by National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations, the mapping project, representing a region of Oregon and Washington, is designed to highlight natural and cultural attractions throughout the area. National Geographic will publish 50,000 maps, available in September, for the Central Cascades Geotourism Project, with features on the map nominated by members of the community at www.thecentralcascades.com.

“I see geotourism as one more tool in the box for economic development,” said Rural Development Initiatives representative Laurel MacMillan, who hosted the geotourism presentation last week. “This is something that can really tap into a trend of people taking shorter trips, and really bring people into this area.”

National Geographic defined geotourism as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture and well-being of its residents, when the magazine launched the MapGuide project several years ago. MapGuides have been completed or are ongoing in Greater Yellowstone, the Crown of the Continent (Alberta, British Columbia, Montana), Guatemala, Sonoran Desert (Arizona, Sonora), Honduras, Peru, Baja California,

Vermont and Appalachia.

To date, www.thecentralcascades.com website has received an estimated 400 nominations for the Oregon-Washington MapGuide, and additional nominations will be accepted until March 29. A stewardship council will review and sort the nominations later this year and pick an estimated 200 sites. National Geographic will choose approximately 150 sites for the map scheduled to be published in September.

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