Workshop Teams Establish Action Plans

The following teams attended the Balancing Nature and Commerce Workshop, held at Allenberry in April, and prepared action plans available in the links to the right.

Boiling Springs/ GOAL: Enhancing the village as a destination hub and as a wonderful community to live in by enhancing and promoting the community's assets. (Team leader: Eric Edstrom, Boiling Springs Civic Association)

• form a steering committee to guide placement of 5 to 7 signs explaining historic, natural, and recreational assets in the community

• seek other stakeholders

• engage a consultant to develop content, design the theme, and select sites

• engage key property owners

• install first signs for commemoration of South Middleton’s 200^th anniversary

Camp Michaux / GOAL: To bring several stakeholders to the table to promote, preserve, and interpret an important historic site that served as both a WWII POW Camp and as a CCC Camp. (Team leader: Larry Luxenburg, AT Museum)

• Identify and evaluate options for the Gardner’s Barn wall

• Form a coalition to oversee the sites’ development and interpretation

• Implement selected option for the wall

• Site survey and inventory of Camp Michaux

Adams County Fruit Belt / GOAL: Maintaining viability through promotion of the fruit belt and collaboration with the business and environmental community. (Team leader: Bicky Redman, Adams County Environmental Services)

• Inventory partners and products to begin creating a brand

• Get buy-in from associations and municipalities

• Apply for a mini-grant

• Research and collect data

• Form materials and establish goals

• Meet with Cumberland County ag group

• Reconvene to assess meetings and research

• Brand development and creation of a Strategic Plan

• Launch Adam’s County fruitbelt brand

Enhancing Trail Opportunities in South Mountain / GOAL: Partnering with Michaux State Forest, volunteers, and others to improve the mountain's trail network. (Team leader: Nate Smith, Healthy Adams Bicycle / Pedestrian, Inc.)

• Host an annual meeting among trail user groups to determine trail needs and potential user groups to help coordinate trail maintenance within Michaux State Forest in order to develop a master site plan

• Host one day workshops throughout the South Mountain Region (spring, summer, fall) to train volunteers (focused on organized groups) on group organization, trail maintenance, and trail development.

• Establish a network of volunteers to develop, manage, and maintain Michaux State Forest Trail System

• Complete maintenance projects on existing trails within Michaux State Forest

The Annual South Mountain Hike-Bike Festival / GOAL: Develop a festival that will serve to enhance and link important economic, recreational, cultural, and natural assets on an annual basis. (Team leader: Larry Knutson, Penn Trails LLC)

• Establish a steering committee

• Form a business plan and acquire financing

• Audit 2011 Labor Day Event

The Battle of Monterey / GOAL: Preserving an interpreting an important Civil War site in Franklin County. (Team leader: Michael Christopher, Washington Township Manager)

• Preservation, Development and education of the Monterey Pass Battlefield

• Interconnection of Michaux Forest, Appalachian Trail, Happel's Meadow, Monterey Pass, Pine Hill and other recreation and historical sites

• Signage, ads, brochures, coloring books to promote tourism

• Acquire adjacent properties for preservation

• Develop interpretive center for Battlefield and Meadow

• Develop educational programs and living history

• Develop trails for interconnectivity of facilities/features

THE DOLLARS AND SENSE OF PROTECTING COMMUNITY CHARACTER / Free Event! April 12th, 2010 / Reception 6-7, speaker 7-9 PM

Interested in sustainable tourism?

Interested in creating economic opportunity in your community?

Would you like to see sense of place preserved where you live?

____________________________________

Come to The Dollars and Sense of

Protecting Community Character

By Ed McMahon

Fellow for Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute

Come hear Ed McMahon, noted author, attorney, lecturer and expert on creating and sustaining livable and prosperous communities. Asset based economic development, tourism promotion, and historic preservation are among the themes of Mr. McMahon’s publications and programs.

He has been providing guidance to communities and local leaders on issues facing “gateway communities” for more than a decade in work with the National Park Service capturing this work in a book he co-authored entitled, “Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities.”

McMahon will provide examples of how communities use their assets to both enhance community quality of life as well as attract economic opportunity. Learn about how sustainable tourism and asset protection can benefit both residents and visitors in the South Mountain, Central Pennsylvania region.

Ed McMahon will also present material from his book “Better Models for Development in Pennsylvania.” He stresses the use of education, incentives and voluntary initiatives to encourage higher quality development.

TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT:

Program is free of charge but please register with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy by calling (717) 258-5771

or register below or online at www.southmountainpartners.eventbrite.com

WORKSHOP TEAMS ANNOUNCED

The following teams will be attending the Balancing Nature and Commerce Workshop held at the Allenberry in April:

• The Battle of Monterey / GOAL: Preserving an interpreting an important Civil War site in Franklin County. (Team leader: Michael Christopher, Washington Township Manager)
• Enhancing Trail Opportunities in South Mountain / GOAL: Partnering with Michaux State Forest, volunteers, and others to improve the mountain's trail network. (Team leader: Nate Smith, Healthy Adams Bicycle / Pedestrian, Inc.)
• The Village of Boiling Springs / GOAL: Enhancing the village as a destination hub and as a wonderful community to live in by enhancing and promoting the community's assets. (Team leader: Eric Edstrom, Boiling Springs Civic Association)
• Adams County Fruit Belt/ GOAL: Maintaining viability through promotion of the fruit belt and collaboration with the business and environmental community. (Team leader: Bicky Redman, Adams County Environmental Services)
• Cumberland County Partners for Excellence in Agriculture / GOAL: Continue to be a major contributor to the economic development of the county and maintain a competitive position in the global economy. (Team leader: Rebecca Wiser, Cumberland County Planning Department)
• The Annual South Mountain Hike-Bike Festival/ GOAL: Develop a festival that will serve to enhance and link important economic, recreational, cultural, and natural assets on an annual basis. (Team leader: Larry Knutson, Penn Trails LLC)
• Camp Michaux / GOAL: To bring several stakeholders to the table to promote, preserve, and interpret an important historic site that served as both a WWII POW Camp and as a CCC Camp. (Team leader: Larry Luxenburg, AT Museum)
• Cumberland Valley Rail Trail/ GOAL: Develop a formalized action plan to develop a rail-trail connection from Newville to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. (Team leader: Stephanie Williams, Cumberland County Planning Department)

SPEAKERS OF THIS TWO DAY WORKSHOP:

Ed McMahon, “The Dollars and Sense of Protecting Community Character”

Ed McMahon is the ULI (Urban Land Institute)/Charles Fraser Senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development. ULI, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. McMahon’s responsibilities include leading ULI’s efforts to conduct research and

educational activities related to green and sustainable development practices. McMahon, a nationally renowned authority on sustainable development, land conservation and urban design, was formerly the vice president and director of land use programs at The Conservation Fund. McMahon is an attorney, community planner, lecturer, author and expert on the topics of sustainable development, land conservation, urban design and historic preservation. McMahon is also the co-founder and former president of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes. McMahon has an M.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Alabama and a J.D. from Georgetown

University Law School, where he taught law and public policy from 1976-1985.

Ted Eubanks,

“Place-Based Tourism: Maximizing the Benefits, Minimizing the Impact”

Ted Lee Eubanks has been involved in the founding and development of a series of businesses. Eubanks founded Fermata in 1992, and since that time has been engaged in the study and promotion of experiential tourism and outdoor recreation as restorative approaches to community revitalization. Eubanks frequently speaks and conducts workshops on nature-based tourism and its economic potential for communities, agencies, and landholders. Eubanks produced a report of recommendations to the South Mountain Partnership in 2009, outlining the opportunities and possibilities to promote the region and its natural and cultural assets.

Mike Ross, “Overview of the South Mountain Region’s Economy”

Mike Ross has been President of the Franklin County Area Development Corporation

(Chambersburg, PA) since its start-up in 1986. The Corporation is responsible for initiating,

implementing, and promoting a comprehensive economic development strategy. The strategy iscentered on the retention/expansion of existing companies, the selective attraction of new industries, and the start-up of new businesses. Under Mike’s direction, the FCADC has facilitated more than 635 projects throughout the County resulting in nearly $1.3 Billion of new investments. Prior to the FCADC, Mike spent more than eight years with the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce, where he held several positions.

Cathleen Magennis Wyatt, “Community Visioning”

Cathleen (Cate) is President of The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership (JTHG). JTHG is a partnership and a non-profit organization dedicated to raising national awareness of the unparalleled history in the region surrounding Highway 15 from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

to Monticello, Virginia. JTHG works with it’s partners to develop strategies for preservation and promotion of this region, and to help communities grow and prosper while preserving America’s historic, natural and scenic heritage. Cate has been Vice President within both Xerox Realty and Weston Capital Corporation and was the Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia. After work in private industry, she took a leave of absence to create the non-profit organization, The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership.

Stephanie Williams, “Community Asset Protection”

Stephanie Williams is the Greenway and Open Space Coordinator for the Cumberland County Planning Department. She has a degree from Penn State University in Environmental Resource Management and has worked for Cumberland County for 12 years. Ms. Williams is responsible for developing and implementing countywide programs designed to promote farmland preservation, natural resource protection, parks and greenways and development of more livable communities.