It’s not only with the new Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) that operations are getting bigger at Lowell Observatory. They’ve also been hiring new staff, revamping the website and expanding outreach activities. A lot of the money to fund the upswing in research activity at the observatory has come through the hard work of its research astronomers, explains Development Manager Rusty Tweed. The funding that those astronomers bring in via research grants form a crucial part of the observatory’s budget. Meanwhile, expansion in other areas at Lowell has come from a greater commitment to fundraising from a variety of sources.

As it has for many years, much of Lowell’s research funding comes from federal sources, particularly NASA. That means Lowell’s researchers regularly spend a lot of time crafting grant proposals to beat out the competition – something they’ve done particularly well recently. Examples of current federally funded projects include involvements with the Hubble Space Telescope, the SOFIA airborne observatory and Kepler missions, as well as the New Horizons spacecraft rendezvous with Pluto in 2015. Raising money this way has become especially important since other observatory funds have been required to ensure the successful completion of the DCT. An important part of those other funds come from the Percival Lowell Trust, a portfolio of private investments managed by the trustee with the sole purpose of helping to support the observatory.

So when the observatory decided to make three new research hires recently, a key ingredient was to select astronomers working in cutting edge areas with a track record of successfully securing financial support for their work. One of those three new Ph.D. astronomers is Evgenya Shkolnik, who specializes in studying exoplanets (i.e. planets orbiting around stars located outside our own solar system), a hot topic. Kevin Covey recently arrived to study the life cycle of stars and exoplanets, while new hire Gerard van Belle specializes in measuring the rotation speeds of stars using their shape, size and temperature and will be using the Naval Optical Interferometer. That’s the large piece of equipment that occupies several acres out on Anderson Mesa, south of town. For the last 15 years, known as the Naval Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI), it has finally outgrown it’s “prototype” designation, has been renamed NOI and is now receiving regular funding. The Navy is now looking to expand the array and is considering putting extra telescopes on it.

Although the new astronomer hires have to some extent been balanced by recent staff retirements, those retirees often maintain an active presence. With the passion Lowell astronomers feel for their work, it seems that they find it hard to hang up their boots. Several retirees still come in to Lowell fairly regularly to continue with research, albeit at a more relaxed pace – but in one or two cases, on a daily basis. Their continued “sharing of institutional knowledge is incredibly valuable,” said Tweed.

The observatory has been making a big push with visitor and outreach activity too. Major add-ons to their advertising campaign this year have been two (unlit) billboards, one on I-17 north of Anthem and one by Winslow on I-40 heading west. Tom Vitron, Lowell’s media and communications coordinator, says that this kind of activity has helped maintain visitor numbers, with an anticipated 74,000 expected to have passed through the doors by year’s end, compared with 72,247 in 2010. Membership in the Friends of Lowell program is around 2,300 this year so far, up about seven percent from last year and they have managed to retain many of those members too, says Vitron. And while visitation generates a fairly small part of the overall operating budget, the Friends program is a particularly valued income stream because it represents a source of money not already earmarked for specific projects. Other recent visitor additions include two new science walks explaining the galaxy and the universe, as well as expanding opportunities for the “behind the scenes” experience already offered to astronomy clubs; plans are even being drawn for a camp for middle and high schoolers next summer.

Hired as the new deputy director for advancement a little over a year ago, Chuck Wendt has been tasked with increasing development funding and charitable giving, as well as introducing new marketing, advertising and educational campaigns. One of his first innovations is to be a new web feature, “Uncle Percy’s Adventures in Space.” Aimed at kids, it is based on an animated characterization of the observatory’s founder Percival Lowell and a fictional female droid assistant, Miss Kitty. Starting in the New Year, the cartoon characters will explore the solar system in 11 episodes intended to both entertain and educate. The observatory is considering a possible partnership with a media outlet to monetize the series. The website itself has been given a facelift by Nancy Riccio at Plateau MediaWorks. The observatory has also recently been interviewing candidates for a new deputy director for operations. The successful applicant will have a large brief – financial planning, overseeing campus operations, running the business office, managing human resources, publishing annual budgets, monitoring grants and dealing with the numerous compliance issues that are required for all the observatory’s federally funded grants.

In the immediate future, Lowell Observatory will be open to visitors more often. Staff members expect the week between Christmas and New Year to be particularly busy, with special programs including The Star of Bethlehem (an astronomical interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem), as well as opportunities to view the planet Jupiter through the historic Clark telescope. In the New Year, the School’s Out Kids Are Free program will run on holidays such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day, during which all visitor center activities will be geared toward kids.

The big challenge over the next few years will be to keep research grant money coming onto Lowell’s campus. Grants and contracts (mostly federal) currently support 44 percent of the observatory’s overall operating budget. With icy winds sweeping through federal research programs, income streams will likely need to diversify to keep on financial track. One option is “geek philanthropy” – involving private and corporate sponsors with a passion for high tech research helping to fund astronomy projects – something with which outfits like the Keck Observatory in California have done well. The much-publicized collaboration for the new telescope with the Discovery Channel, bolstered recently by a new agreement with Boston University to bring in an extra $10 million over the next 10 years, is one example of this new approach. For the foreseeable future at least, it seems that the Lowell’s universe is indeed expanding. FBN

Lowell Observatory’s Expanding Universe is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

One of the great advantages of living in Northern Arizona is the chance to see all sorts of wildlife. Now, knowing where you’ll have the best chance to do that in the Flagstaff area should soon be easier. Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is developing a new Watchable Wildlife program for the Flagstaff area. Although still in the planning stages, Jessica Gist at AZGFD’s Flagstaff Office is organizing a group of local government agencies and nonprofits working collaboratively to establish a network of sites in and around town. “It’s an idea that’s been around for a while,” said Gist, “but we want to coordinate previously separate efforts.” The new Flagstaff initiative will be set up in partnership with the city, county, federal and nonprofit agencies, but as the scheme develops, they’ll be looking for involvement from local businesses, too. Core partners include Coconino County, the City of Flagstaff, the United States Forest Service (USFS), and the Arizona Wildlife Federation. They’ve been meeting monthly since July to draw up plans for the site network.

To be known as the Arizona Watchable Wildlife Experience, the AZGFD program strives to manage and provide for the recreational use of wildlife. Partly funded by lottery ticket sales via the Heritage Fund, the overall aim is to facilitate positive wildlife viewing experiences, increase public awareness of wildlife, boost support for native species and enhance wildlife viewing-related recreational and educational opportunities. It’s part of a statewide effort to develop a network of natural areas and trail systems, with schemes are already operating in the White Mountains and around Lake Powell. Plans for the Flagstaff scheme are to incorporate existing wildlife viewing sites into a local network, with information on individual sites provided via an interactive web site, a map brochure and smartphone apps.

Around 30 sites will be included in the scheme, all located within a 25-mile radius of Flagstaff and selected to include a diversity of habitat types. Examples of sites to be included in the scheme include the wildlife viewing area on Hwy 180 at Kendrick Park, where there’s already a parking area, restroom, trails and some signage about wildlife. At Picture Canyon just east of town, where a lot of cooperative restoration work has been going on recently along the riparian corridor, the Watchable Wildlife team hopes to install a viewing blind next to the pond, with a scope to help get close-up sightings of birds. Logan’s Crossing on the Townsend-Winona road is another target site; although it is currently little more than a roadside pullover, USFS along with Northern Arizona Audubon Society members have been putting in work to get an interpretive trail with signage built. That site attracts a variety of migratory bird species and elk.

But quite a few of the sites will be in urban locations –   Frances Short Pond near Thorpe Park, areas along the Rio de Flag, and the Flagstaff Urban Train System. Shelly Shepherd, AZGFD’s regional Information and Education Program Manager is keen to stress that they want to appeal to locals as well as visitors – and to a diversity of interest groups, including photographers, birders, hikers and bikers – but especially to families and school kids. Shepherd says that making access possible for lower income groups is one priority; hence, the inclusion of urban sites. Gist and Shepherd even hope to provide opportunities for the artists’ community as the scheme develops, with open days for art-related activities at some of the sites.

If you’re thinking this kind of thing isn’t really a business activity, a look at the statistics might make you think again. Activities like bird watching are a growth industry – nationwide this pastime increased by 231 percent between 1982 and 2001. One in every five Arizona residents now reportedly participates in some form of wildlife watching activity. In a survey of USFS-managed lands published in 2007, it was estimated that 646,758 wildlife watchers a year visit Arizona National Forests – the highest visitation figures for a state in the United States. And that wildlife recreation represents big business – statewide purchases of equipment and trip-related expenses generated $1.34 billion per year for hunting and fishing, with $1.5 billion per year thought to have been spent on wildlife viewing-related trips. It’s been estimated that these industries combined support over 30,000 jobs in Arizona, with Coconino County alone generating over $22 million per year from its wildlife recreation industry.

Tom Mackin, president of the Arizona Wildlife Federation and a 25 year Flagstaff resident, says that while the area is blessed with many opportunities to get out and enjoy nature, there’s still a lack of coordinated information on what there is to see and where to see it. He hopes that the Arizona Watchable Wildlife Experience will inspire people, and particularly children, to reconnect with nature and the outdoors, giving them a renewed enthusiasm to see wildlife in a natural setting rather than a zoo. Instead of standardizing signage and other information at the sites, he says the intention is to make enhancements tailored to each location’s specific features.

Mackin adds that up until now, Northern Arizona has lagged behind the southern part of the state in promoting the educational and economic opportunities provided by the region’s natural assets, particular to groups such as birdwatchers. Mackin sees the new Flagstaff scheme as having the potential the to benefit local businesses greatly – from local lodging, outdoor outfitters and sporting goods stores to gas stations and restaurants – not to mention local nature guiding and jeep tour companies.

In the coming months, the Watchable Wildlife core partners will be inviting participation from other stakeholders and looking for sponsors for site stewardship from among the local business community. They are planning an open house in February next year, where they’ll be inviting interested parties and local business to get involved. Meanwhile, if you’d like more information, contact Jessica Gist ( HYPERLINK “mailto:jgist@azgfd.gov” jgist@azgfd.gov) or Shelly Shepherd ( HYPERLINK “mailto:sshepherd@azgfd.gov” sshepherd@azgfd.gov). FBN

Partnering for Watchable Wildlife is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Grand Canyon National Park Supervisory Park Ranger Lisa Hendy was awarded the National Park Service’s (NPS) 2011 Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence in the field of rangering. The award is named after the nation’s first park ranger (hired in Yellowstone National Park in 1880) and is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a park ranger today.

According to NPS Director Jon Jarvis, “Each year, we ask those rangers who tackle the toughest assignments, protecting park resources and the nearly 300 million people who visit our national parks annually, to single out one among them that epitomizes the ranger ethic. We give that person the Harry Yount Award.”

According to the award nomination submitted by Grand Canyon National Park’s Chief Ranger Bill Wright, Hendy has earned it. “Ranger Hendy is one of those rangers that can be sent to any call…. (She) is one of that rare breed…that simply excel at every aspect of rangering.” He explained that on any given day she could be found rappelling over the edge to stabilize a patient, working with the park’s Special Response Team to do a building sweep, responding with the structural fire engine to a burning RV, providing advanced life support care as a paramedic,

being short-hauled into a victim on the river, or patrolling the backcountry – checking permits, stirring toilets, assessing archeological sites, and the list goes on.

Hendy, an intelligent, energetic woman with a big smile and tremendous dedication, said that hers was “…a career built on the wisdom and teachings of (other) rangers….” Speaking of the lessons she had learned from supervisors and rangers she has worked with over the years, she said, “I estimate that it has taken at least 50 rangers to build the ranger you have standing before you today. That means for every ranger like me, there are at least 50 of them out there.” It was clear that Hendy felt honored and privileged to have worked with each and every one of them.

“We couldn’t be more pleased that Lisa was selected for this prestigious award,” said Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. “The Harry Yount Award and rangers like Lisa Hendy represent the very best in the ranger service. They give us all something to strive for. I congratulate Lisa on setting the bar particularly high.”

Hendy was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and attended Auburn University. Over the years, she has worked in Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Arches and Yellowstone National Parks. In 2004, she accepted a position as a law enforcement ranger in Grand Canyon National Park’s Canyon District where she still works today.

PHOTO)  NPS Director Jon Jarvis presents Grand Canyon National Park Supervisory Ranger Lisa Hendy with the 2011 Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award. NPS Photo

EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA

The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.being short-hauled into a victim on the river, or patrolling the backcountry – checking permits, stirring toilets, assessing archeological sites, and the list goes on.

Canyon Ranger Wins Prestigious Harry Yount Award is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Bearizona’s Fall Festival Underway is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Grand Canyon National Park will be joining national park units across the country in celebrating National Public Lands Day (NPLD) with fee free entry into the park.  National Public Lands Day began in 1994 and is intended to encourage shared stewardship of our nation’s public lands. Today, NPLD is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance federal, state and local public lands. In Grand Canyon National Park, volunteers and park staff will be working with the park’s Vegetation Program on native plant restoration and exotic plant control. This year, NPLD will be celebrated on Saturday, September 24.  Visitors who arrive on the 24th will be allowed to enter the park free of charge. Those who plan to spend time in the park beyond the 24th will need to pay the regular entrance fee for the remainder of their stay. Park visitors are reminded that the fee-free designation applies to entrance fees only and does not affect fees for camping, reservations, tours, or use of concessions. Park entrance stations will have Interagency Senior and Annual Passes available for those who wish to purchase them. Additional fee-free days in 2011 will include Veteran’s Day weekend (November 11 – 13.) For more on what there is to see and do in Grand Canyon National Park, please visit the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/grca.  To learn more about National Public Lands Day, please visit the NPLD web site at www.publiclandsday.org.

Free Entry to Grand Canyon Saturday is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Volunteers Sought on National Public Lands Day is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Tourism seems to be picking up across the country and in the state of Arizona, following a 2009 crash related to the economy. But some aspects of Flagstaff’s tourism appear a bit slower to catch up.

Nationally, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism, hotels are doing a little better than they did last year. Occupancy went up about five percent across the country. Those numbers held true regionally, statewide and for the Phoenix metro area. But in Flagstaff, occupancy rates went down a little over three percent from last year, both for the year and in the month of May, the last month recorded in the state’s statistics. According to the Flagstaff Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB), June is shaping up to be only slightly better – about two percent beneath June of last year.

Susan Azar, director of sales and marketing at the Radisson Woodlands Hotel, says occupancy figures there roughly mirror the Flagstaff numbers.

“Our May was down from 2010. Our June was almost flat,” she said, referring to room revenue figures. As for July, “If there is any growth, it will be really marginal.”

Azar says group stays have kept the Radisson’s business afloat, while leisure business (“the folks just coming up for a weekend”) has been off. And it’s not as if this May simply paled in comparison to a stellar month last May.

“In May 2010, we were down from the year before, almost two percent,” she said. “We’ve been down ever since the recession hit. Our hotel was significantly affected.”

But Heather Ainardi, director of the Flagstaff CVB, points to an Arizona Office of Tourism graph showing that Flagstaff’s revenue per available room (RevPAR), another key tourism indicator, has increased slightly over 2009, the year the recession hit. The RevPAR in 2010 hasn’t recovered to 2007 levels, she says, but it hasn’t decreased as dramatically as it has in other areas of the state.

“And looking at 2010 as compared to 2000, only Flagstaff and non-metro Arizona have shown increases in RevPAR,” she said.

Jacki Lenners, also at the CVB, explains that three indicators work together to diagnose the state of the hotel industry.

“While hotel occupancy in Flagstaff for May was down slightly, both the average daily rate and RevPAR saw increases,” she pointed out. “Occupancy is only one piece of the puzzle, and getting the hotel rates and, ultimately, the revenues back up are critical components of the health of the tourism industry.”

Another key tourism indicator that includes restaurants is the Bed, Board & Beverage tax, or BBB. Ainardi says BBB taxes for the fiscal year to date – July 2010 through May 2011 – have been up 3.9 percent over the year before, and they’re competing with record BBB tax revenues in 2008.

As for why BBB taxes would be up and hotel occupancy would be down, “we don’t have a sense,” she said. “It could be people staying in one hotel room rather than getting two. It could be people coming up for the day, or staying in other towns.”

It appears that visitation at one of Northern Arizona’s main draws, the Grand Canyon, has been holding steady, if not booming. The general trend in the past decade has been on the rise, although there were about 4.4 million visitors in 2007 and 2008, and about 4.3 million visitors in 2009 and 2010. Recreational visits to the park in the month of May, the most recent month that’s been analyzed, are up about five percent over the same month last year.

Azar says even if hotel occupancy does rebound across the city, individual hotels may not see recovery at the same rate. That’s because would-be occupants have more choices now.

“They built the Courtyard,” she said. “They renovated AmeriSuites, now SpringHill Suites. The Drury Inn & Suites came in. All three of those nice, new properties came in at the same time. Now there’s a surplus in the market that competes directly with us.“

Ainardi says all the hotels can rightfully expect a boost with the Cardinals training camp that headed into town at the end of July.

“That’s going to be a boost for our economy. Over 80 percent of visitors to the Cards training camp are from out of town,” she said, citing an NAU analysis.

Last year, NAU and the Cardinals signed a three-year contract extension that will keep the team’s training camp at NAU’s Flagstaff campus through 2012. FBN

Several Factors Contributing to Mixed Tourism Figures is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

Tourism seems to be picking up across the country and in the state of Arizona, following a 2009 crash related to the economy. But some aspects of Flagstaff’s tourism appear a bit slower to catch up.

Nationally, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism, hotels are doing a little better than they did last year. Occupancy went up about five percent across the country. Those numbers held true regionally, statewide and for the Phoenix metro area. But in Flagstaff, occupancy rates went down a little over three percent from last year, both for the year and in the month of May, the last month recorded in the state’s statistics. According to the Flagstaff Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB), June is shaping up to be only slightly better – about two percent beneath June of last year.

Susan Azar, director of sales and marketing at the Radisson Woodlands Hotel, says occupancy figures there roughly mirror the Flagstaff numbers.

“Our May was down from 2010. Our June was almost flat,” she said, referring to room revenue figures. As for July, “If there is any growth, it will be really marginal.”

Azar says group stays have kept the Radisson’s business afloat, while leisure business (“the folks just coming up for a weekend”) has been off. And it’s not as if this May simply paled in comparison to a stellar month last May.

“In May 2010, we were down from the year before, almost two percent,” she said. “We’ve been down ever since the recession hit. Our hotel was significantly affected.”

But Heather Ainardi, director of the Flagstaff CVB, points to an Arizona Office of Tourism graph showing that Flagstaff’s revenue per available room (RevPAR), another key tourism indicator, has increased slightly over 2009, the year the recession hit. The RevPAR in 2010 hasn’t recovered to 2007 levels, she says, but it hasn’t decreased as dramatically as it has in other areas of the state.

“And looking at 2010 as compared to 2000, only Flagstaff and non-metro Arizona have shown increases in RevPAR,” she said.

Jacki Lenners, also at the CVB, explains that three indicators work together to diagnose the state of the hotel industry.

“While hotel occupancy in Flagstaff for May was down slightly, both the average daily rate and RevPAR saw increases,” she pointed out. “Occupancy is only one piece of the puzzle, and getting the hotel rates and, ultimately, the revenues back up are critical components of the health of the tourism industry.”

Another key tourism indicator that includes restaurants is the Bed, Board & Beverage tax, or BBB. Ainardi says BBB taxes for the fiscal year to date – July 2010 through May 2011 – have been up 3.9 percent over the year before, and they’re competing with record BBB tax revenues in 2008.

As for why BBB taxes would be up and hotel occupancy would be down, “we don’t have a sense,” she said. “It could be people staying in one hotel room rather than getting two. It could be people coming up for the day, or staying in other towns.”

It appears that visitation at one of Northern Arizona’s main draws, the Grand Canyon, has been holding steady, if not booming. The general trend in the past decade has been on the rise, although there were about 4.4 million visitors in 2007 and 2008, and about 4.3 million visitors in 2009 and 2010. Recreational visits to the park in the month of May, the most recent month that’s been analyzed, are up about five percent over the same month last year.

Azar says even if hotel occupancy does rebound across the city, individual hotels may not see recovery at the same rate. That’s because would-be occupants have more choices now.

“They built the Courtyard,” she said. “They renovated AmeriSuites, now SpringHill Suites. The Drury Inn & Suites came in. All three of those nice, new properties came in at the same time. Now there’s a surplus in the market that competes directly with us.“

Ainardi says all the hotels can rightfully expect a boost with the Cardinals training camp that headed into town at the end of July.

“That’s going to be a boost for our economy. Over 80 percent of visitors to the Cards training camp are from out of town,” she said, citing an NAU analysis.

Last year, NAU and the Cardinals signed a three-year contract extension that will keep the team’s training camp at NAU’s Flagstaff campus through 2012. FBN

Written by Anne Minard

Several Factors Contributing to Mixed Tourism Figures is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

With the increase in the price of gasoline and long waits in airline security lines, more and more people are taking the train. Many more passengers seem to be coming into Flagstaff, and they are spending money. Some visit our community and then travel on to other destinations like Los Angeles and Chicago.

Al Brown of Flagstaff is a frequent train rider. Recently, he was boarding the Amtrak in Flagstaff to take a long trip throughout the west and then on to Rochester, New York. “I’ve been taking the train for 10 years, and recently more than ever. If I want to fly to Spokane to visit my friends, I have to drive to Phoenix, then have several flight changes and it would be horribly expensive. This entire (train) trip is costing me only $600,” he said.

“If I want to fly to cities along the west coast, I have to drive to Phoenix, rent a hotel room for the night since many of the flights leave early in the morning, and it’s just a hassle,” he added.

John Pitt, author of USA by Rail Guide Book, says, “Trains are less stressful, can save you money and have many other advantages. They pollute less, don’t cause traffic congestion and allow you to work comfortably en route. You can travel right into the city center instead of commuting miles away to an airport where you may face long and tedious security checks,” Pitt said.

Heather Ainardi, director of the Flagstaff Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), said her employees are heavily promoting Amtrak, particularly now with high gas prices and summer just around the corner. “The Southwest Chief line, which runs through Flagstaff, is one of the busiest in the west. We value our relationship with Amtrak and believe we have an amazing partnership with them,” Ainardi said.

While the bureau does not keep statistics specific to the visitors who come to Flagstaff on Amtrak, she did acknowledge that it seems there are more train travelers coming in compared to last year. Data from the CVB shows the average party of three travelers spends approximately $646 a day when they visit Flagstaff. That includes lodging, food and beverages, transportation, shopping, recreation and other spending. “Amtrak boosts our tourism market,” she said.

Many Flagstaff businesses report that they are seeing an increase in tourists coming to Flagstaff on the train, but they don’t keep records on whether the guest came by train, car, or air.

Fred Wong, owner of Grand Canyon Café, said, “We’ve had quite a few train customers recently. One night there were at least three sets of visitors from the UK, some from India and many Asians. It seems we’re seeing more than before. Some people don’t tell us if they’re train travelers, but it seems we have more of them. They are boosting our business and we welcome them until 9:00 p.m.” he said.

Justin Connors, who works the counter at Amtrak’s Flagstaff ticket counter, smiled brightly when asked if ridership is up. “Definitely, I think we’ve had a big increase in the last few months. Look how crowded this depot is right now. Plus, taking the train is so convenient. You can bring on your own water, food and three bags. You can’t do that on a plane anymore,” he said.

Carol Perez has worked for Amtrak for 20 years, and she agrees the Flagstaff depot is busier these days. She noted that during the big snowstorm in 2010, many flights were canceled and roads were closed. “We were still able to get people in and out of Flagstaff, even with the five feet of snow. Our trains may have been a bit late, but we shoveled paths and got passengers on their trains,” she said.

Indeed, Amtrak marketing statistics show Flagstaff ridership up slightly over the same time last year. “For international travelers, the [Flagstaff] station is central for visiting regional tourist attractions. Nationwide, Amtrak has experienced 18 consecutive months of ridership growth year-over-year, “ Vernae Graham, marketing relations spokesperson with Amtrak, said.

Louise Hosking from the UK has been traveling the United States via train for nearly a year. “It’s a lot cheaper than flying, plus I get to see the scenery. The train is fun,” she said, “I meet all kinds of interesting people, one person and I talked nearly non-stop for an entire day!” FBN

Travelers Saving Gas Money by Riding the Rails is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper

FBN Web Exclusive —Camping by both Flagstaff residents and tourists can be a windfall for the local economy and provide local businesses with a boost during the summer season. However, the activity can also pose dangers and create problems for the city and the forests surrounding it, such as campfire-born wildfires and littering.

Paul Summerfelt, a wildland fire management officer with the city of Flagstaff, said a great deal of the fires he deals with are started by campfires that are left unattended.

“Most of them in the city are [started by campers],” Summerfelt said. “There are two groups of people we’re dealing with, too. One of them is the transients – the homeless. And [fires begun by transients] are most of the types of fires we have within the city. But, we have campfires – people do that as well – from people up from the [greater Phoenix area] who are camping and leave a fire. That’s not uncommon. We just had two last week.”

Although campfires are prohibited within the city limits, Summerfelt said Flagstaff is not completely safe from the dangers of a wildfire.

“Any fire that begins — given the right set of conditions, even if it’s miles from the city — could be a problem for us,” Summerfelt said.

The troubles Summerfelt is speaking of are not limited to physical damage to the city, and according to scenarios mapped out by his department, any harm to Flagstaff from a wildfire would have a ripple effect on the local economy.

“We did a study in 2003 [that asked the question], ‘What is the economic impact of a large fire on the Flagstaff community?’ And our parameters were, ‘What happens if we have a fire in the first week of June that damages or destroys three hundred homes in Flagstaff?’ [The fire would be] in the tourist season, [last] for several days, [and be] on the national news. What we found was that the economic impact of that was in excess of $60 million. The reason for that is that people who were thinking about coming to the Grand Canyon and Arizona through [Flagstaff] on vacation, they’re not coming. Conventions and meetings for a year out are cancelling meetings.”

Summerfelt said such a disaster is entirely possible.

“300 homes is a large number of homes, but it’s not out of the realm at all,” Summerfelt said. “If we had a fire move into Flagstaff into the Continental area or University Heights on the south side of town, we could easily have that occur.”

Despite their apparent usefulness, the combination of national forest area closures and fire restrictions can often hurt business for the outdoor stores in Flagstaff. And while Chatinsky said he wholeheartedly supports such precautions, he did acknowledge that closure and restriction decisions impact his financial outlook during the summer.

“I believe that we need to have those fire restrictions because of those people who don’t have common sense — and there’s way too many of them out there,” Peace Surplus Owner Steve Chatinsky said. “You have to have it. I’m good with it. It definitely affects our business, but it’s not all about numbers. It’s people’s lives when it comes down to it.”

One silver lining of forest closures, Harris said, is that it drives more tourists to stay in town and buy things from local businesses.

“When you do complete forest closures, which, of course, we’ve seen many times, it definitely impacts business,” said  Keith Harris, the manager of Babbitt’s Backcountry Outfitters.  “It can help in a very small way: that a lot of the people who are coming through who are not usually the ones planning on just staying indefinitely, but are just planning on staying a night or two. They’re kind of stuck in town – they’re not even allowed to go out in the woods anymore. So, we do get those people, but it doesn’t outweigh the disadvantages. Forest closures are a killer to the economy. People come up here to be outside.”

Harris said he dislikes calendar-based, annual fire restrictions that can drive away business from the city and the surrounding region.

“When they put [the fire restrictions] on a few weeks ago, it was getting in the 20s at night — that’s pretty cold,” Harris said. “You take all these people who are going to come up and go camping, and expect them to go camping without a campfire when it gets that cold, it’s going to hurt. They’re not going to do it. I think we really need to make sure that they’re justified in putting them on. I’m not a big fan of the set [restrictions] that run from this date to that date.”

Brady Smith, a forest public affairs officer for the Coconino National Forest, said that while the Forest Service has no definitive data regarding the impact of restrictions on tourism, those visiting the parks often inquire about them in advance.

“We receive many phone calls and emails any time there are fire restrictions, as people are trying to figure out if they can have a fire or not when they camp,” Smith said.

Summerfelt said he has no problem with campers and campfires, so long as the former is careful and responsible with the latter.

“I think that the way that can be done is that if they do have a fire, that it’s built correctly and the flammable materials are cleared from around the fire pit,” Summerfelt said. “And that they are only having a fire when conditions are not high wildfire danger or more … that they stay on site the entire time the fire is going, and when they leave, they fully extinguish it.”

Fellow Northern Arizona campers, Jon Novak said, are generally responsible with their campsites when it comes to putting fires out completely.

“People are usually pretty good about tending their fires, because everyone knows how dry the environment can get around here,” Novak said. “But, maybe that isn’t true because forest fires aren’t all the uncommon.”

Still-alight campfires are not the only destructive byproducts of irresponsible campers. Although there is no quantifiable amount of litter the Forest Service handles, Smith said he and others in the employ of the national forest handle a great deal of trash on an annual basis.

“There is no solid number I [can give] as far as cost goes,” Smith said. “However, I can tell you that we do not employ trash collectors. Employees often set aside their core duties and volunteer to remove litter from forest lands to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds of trash every year.”

Novak said he has seen extensive littering while camping, and tends to stay away from campsites where he knows other people will be there in great numbers.

“I’ve been to places where there are bits of trash around, but usually I try to avoid populated areas, places where students go to party,” Novak said. “Usually, what you find if you go to a place like that is just tons of beer cans.” FBN

Camping Creating Great Costs for Region is a post from: Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper