California has the Golden Gate Bridge and Las Vegas the glitzy casinos, but North Carolina's natural beauty is what brought more than 45 million people to the state in 2006, spending $15 billion in the process.
The economic impact, up 8 percent from spending in 2005, which is higher than the national average, also is seen in the 187,000 jobs the industry creates.
But when it comes to preserving more of these natural areas and expounding upon this increase in "ecotourism," North Carolina has not been able to meet its personal goals.
Land for Tomorrow, a coalition of organizations and individuals pressing for greater funding for conservation, is requesting that the state government set aside $1 billion over the course of five years for land preservation as a means of getting the state back on track.
"If we don't conserve this land now, it's going to be gone," said Mike Nelson, director of government relations for the Conservation Council of North Carolina, a member of the Land for Tomorrow coalition.
In 1999, the N.C. Million Acre Initiative was passed with the goal of preserving 1 million acres. Eight years later, only 405,521 acres have been preserved, nowhere close to matching the 100,000-acre-a-year development rate.
As a part of the Land for Tomorrow proposal, which has inspired legislation pending in both houses of the N.C. General Assembly, the group set forth tourism-related tax options to show that ecotourism can be just as economically viable as development.
Even without added taxes, tourism makes economic sense that the state is trying to cash in on, stated Christine Mackey, director of tourism programs for the N.C. Department of Commerce, in an e-mail.
"Certainly preserving Chimney Rock as an asset for generations to come will offer ecotourists the opportunity to visit one of our state's most unique attractions forever," she stated of the state's recent acquisition of Chimney Rock Park.
"Private industry outfitters are working with local governments across the state to access wildlife areas and develop more tourism product," she added, noting hang gliding offered at Jockey's Ridge State Park and the Nantahala Outdoor Center's rafting excursions.
The buzz surrounding the N.C. wine industry also is attracting visitors, said Deborah Barnes, spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Commerce. The associated eating and dining experiences might not be strictly natural, but they do require conservation of grape fields that might otherwise be developed.
Ecotourism's potential to help the case for conservation is something those in Eastern North Carolina have been using to prevent the construction of a landing strip near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, said Molly Diggins, director of the N.C. chapter of the Sierra Club.
Increasing conservation efforts is something that seems to be popular now, whether for ecotourism reasons or just for the sake of preservation, she said.
"Sometimes it's part of the overall package to preserve an area because it does give an area an extra chance for revenue, but sometimes it's just being preserved," she said.
"There is a lot of enthusiasm in the legislature to try to make up for lost time in meeting those goals."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
