A fully funded Blue Mountain Heritage Trail Association, operating as conceived, and the trail recognized and administered as intended, will contribute to sustainable economic development in many ways and at many levels.
Facilities to provide for and support the needed recreational, educational, and interpretive activities that this trail will generate need to be developed, managed, and maintained. As a result, opportunities for local contractors will be abundant.
Related to this will be the increase in demand for the services and commodities supplied by the businesses that directly support this sort of recreation. Opportunities for guide services, shuttle services, campgrounds, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, motels and other similar and related services will present themselves for those wishing to take advantage.
Native American tribes with Ceded lands crossed by the trail will be consulted, and their support for such a trail sought. They will have opportunities for educational and interpretive presentations at selected and agreed upon sites around the trail. To the extent that Tribes participate in the development of this proposal, money from Tribal groups will feed into the economies of the region.
After official recognition and appropriated funding for the management and administration of the trail is achieved, the association will continue to serve as an educational, promotional, and oversight body, insuring that this trail continues to contribute to the economic vitality of the region. To operate at this level the trail association must have strong financial backing. Much of this financial backing will come in the form of grants, donated monies, and other sources from outside the region. To a large extent this money will be spent inside the region, thus contributing to the overall strength of the regional economy.
The existence of a so constructed and managed Blue Mountain Heritage Trail, and a trail association to develop, establish, and oversee the administration of this trail, will establish a world-class destination opportunity for a recreational trail experience. This circular route concentrates its economic benefits in the Blue Mountains region rather than distributing and diluting these benefits along a linear path leading far beyond the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountain Heritage Trail will be an important key to the success of the region’s economic development strategy.
