Quick Links: Eleventh Edition Welcome to the June 2006 Edition of Network News Network News is published by the Maine Mountain Heritage Network and it's filled with updates and articles about what's happening in the Maine Mountain Heritage Area. We welcome your story ideas! Submit your suggestion or press release for consideration. New Logo for the Maine Mountain Heritage Initiative Pete Roberts from Insyt New Media has developed the Maine Mountain Heritage logo for our regional initiative. It will be used for publications, signage, and marketing. Look for our new logo on Network projects and communications. Mountain Heritage Center's Grand Opening The Mountain Heritage Center's grand opening will be on August 4th to celebrate the Maine Fiberarts Open Studio and Farm Weekend. Join us in Farmington for an exhibit on wool production and art in the Maine mountain region. The exhibit will be open August 4, 5, and 6 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. No admission will be charged although donations will be appreciated. Who's involved? Check out the list of Coordinating Team members. To Learn More Contact the Network's Coordinating Agency Mountain Counties Heritage P.O. Box 508 Farmington ME 04938 (207) 778-3885 Web: www.mainemountains.org Contact Us: online Not sure why you received our eNewsletter? We send this electronic mailing to people who have an existing relationship with us and also to those people whom we think will find the information interesting. We DON'T share your information with anyone. View our Privacy Policy. June 2006 Celebrating Maine's Mountain Heritage In This Issue... RALLY BREAKOUT SESSIONS REPORT: As part of the May 19th Rally for the Maine Mountain Heritage Area, attendees participated in break-out sessions centered on the four program areas of the Maine Mountain Heritage Network... READ MORE NATIONAL DESIGNATION: National Heritage Area Designation Panel Highlights Pros and Cons - The afternoon session of the first Rally for the Maine Mountain Heritage Area featured a panel to consider national designation of our region as a national heritage area... READ MORE ANNOUNCEMENT: The Mountain Heritage Center’s grand opening will be on August 4th to celebrate the Maine Fiberarts Open Studio and Farm Weekend. Join us in Farmington for an exhibit on wool production and art in the Maine mountain region... READ MORE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble viewing this page? SOLUTION: CLICK HERE to read Network News on our website, or visit: http://www.mainemountains.org/network/eNewsletter/past_editions.htm. RALLY REPORT BREAKOUT SESSIONS As part of the May 19th Rally for the Maine Mountain Heritage Area, attendees participated in break-out sessions centered on the four program areas of the Maine Mountain Heritage Network. Each break-out session was comprised of an introduction to the program area, an update of current projects underway, a panel discussion, and brainstorming about next steps for the program action teams. Below is a brief summary of the suggested next steps. Knowledge Power participants agreed that the top priorities should be completing the Network's traveling exhibit and seeking financial support for local interpretive centers across the region. Related ideas included repackaging the material from the traveling exhibit for other uses, including the Maine Department of Tourism's website, the Network's website, audio tours, and travel itineraries. The group also expressed support for a Maine Mountain Heritage Area interpretive map (in both print and electronic formats) to guide visitors and residents to the area's historical, cultural, and natural assets. Finally, all participants agreed that throughout our work we should seek opportunities to connect stories and ideas to real world experiences related to the region's culture and heritage. Suggestions included: hands-on workshops for kids and tourists, apprenticeships, and scavenger hunts. The Woods and Waters session brought forth ideas pertaining to the Network's role in coordinating recreation development and land conservation to achieve world-class destination status. Attendees determined that the first priority is helping to educate residents about "the big picture" for this area. Changes that happen in the Maine mountain region are often influenced and driven by events happening at the state, national, and global levels. In order to protect the character of our local land base, residents must understand the impacts of these outside forces. The second priority is to engage local landowners and public officials in regional recreation development and land conservation planning processes. Participants in the Village Works session suggested steps to take economic development of service centers to the next level. The group suggested expanding the current walking tour project to include training of interpretive guides to provide more in-depth tours. It was also suggested that the Network sponsor a downtown walking tour conference. In a similar way, participants thought the Network might initiate a creative economy follow-up conference, perhaps working with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development to compile a creative economy handbook. Finally, the group suggested that the Network redefine downtown revitalization and economic development with the focus on preservation of cultural and historic institutions. This would help develop guidelines for marketing, capacity, and long-term preservation. The Mountain Made group felt that it would be beneficial to link Mountain Made activities with existing efforts to promote Maine and Maine made products. For example, the Maine Media Marketplace that is hosted by the Maine Office of Tourism provides an opportunity to meet with the press directly to promote a product or area. Another example was partnering with the Maine Wood Products Association to set-up a booth at the Big E in Massachusetts. A second group of suggestions related to tying product sales to tourism. For example, we should encourage tour operator itineraries to include farm visits, manufacturing tours, and places to buy local products would help increase visibility in a larger market. An emphasis needs to be placed on Maine farm stands and working with them on how to display and promote other Mountain Made products at their stands. Photo Above Right: Jennifer Kierstead of the Network's Coordinating Team leading the Mountain Made breakout session. NATIONAL DESIGNATION: National Heritage Area Designation Panel Highlights Pros and Cons The afternoon session of the first Rally for the Maine Mountain Heritage Area featured a panel to consider national designation of our region as a national heritage area. Bruce Hazard of Mountain Counties Heritage provided a brief overview of the heritage area model and national designation. Richard Barringer of the Muskie School for Public Service then framed the panel discussion which featured presentations by Annie Harris of the Essex National Heritage Area, Vaughn Stinson of the Maine Tourism Association, and Joel Swanton of the Maine Forest Products Council. He asked presenters and audience members to consider the question, "should we proceed with a preliminary study?" as suggested by the U.S. Park Service. Harris provided an overview of her project which focuses on historic and natural resource conservation, heritage education, tourism development, and partnership building. She noted that while the U.S. Park Service and the Office of Management and Budget do provide fiscal oversight of her project, they exercise no regulatory authority. It is "grassroots forever!" Vaughn Stinson observed that tourism is Maine's largest industry and that heritage tourism is a fast growing sector within the industry. He cautioned, however, that tourism development must be undertaken in partnership with landowners, appearing to anticipate Joel Swanton's remarks. Joel, representing the forest products industry, was supportive of the Network's programs generally, but noted that landowners were opposed to national designation as it could be used by "narrow interests" to invoke legal challenges to landowner operations. Following questions and observations from the audience, both for and against national designation, Barringer requested a straw poll to indicate the inclination of the group regarding the request for a preliminary study. The results showed support for moving ahead with the study, but with extreme caution. No one wants to alienate the landowner group. The Network coordinating team will meet on June 23 to decide how to proceed. Preliminary conversations suggest that the group will want to move ahead on three fronts, requesting the preliminary national designation study, determining if state level designation would work equally well or better, and finally identifying potential funding that could support Network programs without designation of any kind. Photo Above Right: Panel leaders, Annie Harris, Bruce Hazard, and Richard Barringer. Photo submitted by Valerie Tucker, Waterville Morning Sentinel. Friendly Reminder Regarding Spam Filters From Shaunacy Cobb, Mountain Counties Heritage Communications Coordinator: To be assured that you continue to recieve your copy of Network News, please remember to add my email address (scobb@mainemountains.org) to your "Approved Senders" list in your spam filter.

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