American Hiking Society Resource Center LIVE

AHS is a great organization and has now made a Resource Center freely available on the web.  Check it out at this link (http://www.americanhiking.org/HikingResources/Main/)


I like it since in not only offers info on LNT and gear, but how people can help protect, preserve and plan new trails.  


Consider joining the American Hiking Society to help out!

Ridgerunners and Caretakers

Ridgerunners and Caretakers are needed for the Appalachian Trail.  Does this sound interesting?  Check out the ATC page at  http://www.appalachiantrail.org/what-we-do/trail-management-support/ridgerunners-caretakers to find out more.

Volunteers are always needed too.  For Massachusetts see this blog for current information.

See you on the trail!

National Park Service Planning

Want to find out about NPS Planning?  visit the site.

And the NRPA just recently published a paper in Parks and Recreation on planning as well at this link.

I have been research park planning a bit more recently since I will likely teach a new course this fall on Site Planning Studio.  Should be fun.

Sound of Horror

I've not seen this one.  Have you?
watch it on Archive.org for free.

http://archive.org/details/SoundOfHorror1964

Get Ready for Monster Bash

and watch this ten minute clip posted on YouTube for my favorite monster movie.

Reptilicus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javwT9eyR9g

(I have this on 16 mm too!)

Monster Bash 2012 next weekend!

Too bad I will not make it this year, but I have fond memories of the Monster Bash. Located north of Pittsburgh, PA in Butler, the Bash theme is Prehistoric Monsters.

Check out to meet celebrities, view classic films and visit the vendors.  If you like old horror films, this is the place to be.

Nearby in Evan's City is the famous graveyard shown in the opening scenes of the original Night of the Living Dead.

Online Travel Sites

Now, I have been buying domestic plane tickets online for probably 15 or more years.  For foreign flights it is probably more like ten.

But my most recent experience with an online broker is less than satisfactory.  I used Oxxxxx recently to book a multi-airline flight from Hartford/Springfield (BDL) to Tortola (EIS).  Since the two airlines were not partners, I received paper tickets after some delay since I needed to provide a street address instead of a mailing address.

The day before my flight I phoned the first airline and while they had my reservation, I had no assigned seats and none could be assigned until I arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m. the next day.  And the best seats I could get put my wife and me apart or in the bulkhead.

I generally use a couple of search engines to check airlines, times and dates.  I like KAYAK and HIPMUNK for starters and then will go to the individual airline to book the flight.  I try to be a loyal flyer with a few different airlines and try to fly via San Juan PR (SJU) to clear customs instead of Miami (MIA).  But as I shared earlier, since the two airlines were not partners, in order to get the "whole" package, I needed to use an online broker.

What a royal pain.

And I will never use Oxxxxx again.

Islands of the World XII Conference 2012

Returned from the Islands of the World XII Conference held in Tortola, BVI this past week.  A good conference with great papers, lectures, field trips and opportunities to share.  The next Islands conference will be held in 2 years in Jersey UK.

The organizers are expecting to post videos and pictures on the website, so stay tuned.  I delivered the paper:

Management of Island Restaurants:

Applying the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria

R. S. Bristow¹; B. Conz¹; I. Jenkins²

¹Westfield State University, Westfield, Massachusetts, USA

²Les Roches Gruyere University of Applied Science, Bulle, Switzerland

Abstract

There are unique challenges in the management of island restaurants. While it may be reasonable to procure local seafood as part of the cuisine, other meats, produce and beverages may have to be transported great distances.  Further, in a declining economy, sustainable management practices may be less important.

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the sustainable management practices found in a sample of restaurants found on the islands of Providenciales, North and Middle Caicos in the Turks and Caicos (TCI) to those found in the US.   Selected for this study was the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC). These criteria are designed to be the minimum practices to insure sustainability for the business as well as protect the natural and cultural resources.  Given the lack of local food products on this Caribbean island, it is hypothesized that island restaurants may be more susceptible to sustainable practices.

Data for this study come from a questionnaire administered to a sample of restaurants in both locations.  The survey is designed to collect general information about the restaurant, what kind of cuisine offered, sources of food and concludes with a few questions asking about the sustainable practices. Excluded from the sample are chain and fast food restaurants.  At present 40 restaurants have been surveyed yielding a 25% response rate in TCI and 20% rate for the region in the States.  Additional restaurants are being sampled at the time of this writing and a plan for sampling restaurants in Europe will occur in the spring of 2012.

Preliminary results indicate that for the island restaurants most food comes from either the United States or the Dominican Republic.  Exceptions to these two sources would be the local seafood, produce grown at a local hydroponic farm and most baked goods.  While many managers desire specialized foods, e.g., organic, chemical free, grass-fed or free range food, these are not readily available.  On the other hand, price, uniformity, availability and quality are important to most managers.

Management’s assessment of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria found that energy and water use were of most concern.  Electricity use, for example, was quite expensive and restaurants had few alternatives for more sustainable practices.

Encouraging prospects do exist for the island restaurants.  Potential farm land on the neighboring North and Middle Caicos could be cultivated to meet the local needs.   Most island restaurants would purchase this local food providing the cost, availability, and quality were dependable.

Keywords – global sustainable tourism criteria, restaurants, islands, local food, sustainable development

Subtheme – Sustaining Tourism after the Global Financial Crisis