Today, NTA represents more than 600 tour operators, many of whom offer America’s Byways as part of their travel packages. These tour operators work with both groups and independent travelers. Over the past several years, the industry has witnessed a trend toward experiential travel. This means we are seeing many people no longer traveling just to see; they travel to learn something new.

As consumer trends change, tour operators continue to perfect their product. And this is just part of the reason why NTA is so excited about a new program recently announced along with the American Recreation Coalition. NTA and ARC are working together on an innovative program that will bring the technology era to America’s Byways. The two groups will participate in a pilot project that will make multi-lingual digital commentary about features along the George Washington Memorial Parkway available for free on the Internet in Mp3 format.

The new program will provide downloadable interpretive information for tour operators and their customers - and the general public. We hope that this project will eventually be available to use for trips along all 30,000 miles of our nationally-designated byways. Once available, this will be a wonderful tool for NTA tour operators and will benefit the destinations and suppliers on the routes.

By making new travel and tour marketing opportunities such as this available, we are confident we can unite travelers with America’s Byways once again. Our American roads tell a story and travelers are ready to listen.

Nothing spoils a good ride more than taking a turn onto an Interstate or multi-lane highway. Though they get you to a destination quickly, the force of wind as truckers speed past you, and the tire-deflating debris along the side of the road, can quickly suck the joy out of a leisurely ride. The importance of America’s scenic byways to bicyclists can’t be overstated. The ability to ride, for miles at a time, accompanied only by fellow travelers on adventures of their own (as car drivers on scenic byways tend to be), is a precious one.

What the League of American Bicyclists would like to see on the nation’s Scenic Byways is more signage, and if possible a paved and frequently swept shoulder for bicyclists to use. Bike parking at rest stops, overlooks and information points is also much appreciated.  Because Scenic Byways are chosen based on one or more archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities, they are perfect for cyclists who are looking to take a leisurely route. However, even on these gorgeous roads, cyclists can still struggle to be visible to drivers.

By transforming Scenic Byways into complete streets, with room for all users, the program would continue to enrich the lives of all Americans.

This recognition by the ABA and the opportunity to enjoy a portion of the estimated $159,000 generated annually per motorcoach has come about through a partnership of three National Scenic Byways: the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, Lakes to Locks Passage and the Mohawk Towpath, along with the state-designated Revolutionary Byway and historic forts, and New York’s French and Indian War 250th Anniversary Commission. The recognition granted these byways and byway-based historic sites by the American Bus Association is a milestone and model for byways’ collaboration. Together, we are promoting our shared resources to achieve an innovative experience for heritage travelers and a positive impact on our local and state economies.

Development of the French and Indian War theme is assisted by a $187,000 National Scenic Byway grant to the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, Inc. which provides for the design and installation of 21 French and Indian War theme interpretive panels at such sites as Fort Ontario in Oswego, Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, Fort La Presentation in Ogdensburg, Fort Stanwix in Rome, and Fort William Henry in Lake George. The grant will also underwrite a resource inventory and the development of a brochure and guidebook to promote the French and Indian War travel theme.

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail Interpretive Plan designates a series of multi-themed interpretive panels for attractions of all types. The series has been well-received for two major reasons: the panels provide site-specific visitor contact with a site’s legends, lore, facts and information 24 hours a day, year-round; and the panels create the impetus to travel on along the byway to other historic, natural, architectural and agricultural sites. Guidebooks and maps presenting an integrated collection of sites also accomplish the objective of multiple stops.

Among the interpretive techniques we see working well at the forts, battlefields, and non-military historic sites are costumed interpreters and the opportunity for visitors to enjoy a personal experience of living history along the Great lakes Seaway Trail which spans 518 miles through 11 counties in two states.

My vision of the future for America’s Scenic Byways is a balanced mix of living history, i.e., human contact-based, and inanimate tools for interpreting our heritage resources. A mix of funding sources - from federal grants to corporate sponsors will also be required to implement programming (for ideas see the Driving Financial Sustainability for America’s Byways Organizations CD). And as my colleague Dr. Ruth Hawkins suggests, regional and national partnerships, such as the French and Indian War collaboration are key to creating the “critical mass” attractive to tourists and funders and to catalyze byway-based community development.

I think we have found in the byways concept an excellent model for interagency and community collaboration where our managers are actively working across boundaries to conserve special landscapes, build community pride, and leverage scarce resources for destination marketing. Our forest byways program receives some funding through the DOT, Federal Lands Highways Division programs for those roads also classified as “forest highways.” When our forest byways are cross designated under a State Scenic Byways program, or elevated as one of DOT’s 126 America’s Byways®, they are also eligible for federal aid grants; such as marketing assistance or interpretive planning. About 25 percent of our forest byways do not qualify for any of these federal aid grants. All of our forest byways are eligible for some transportation planning assistance through Federal Lands Highways Division.

The Chief’s National Forest Scenic Byways program continues to be an important catalyst for collaboration to build community awareness of the intrinsic values inherent in our public landscapes.

Here are some examples:

• We have initiated work with National Geographic Society, Center for Sustainable Destinations, to protect scenic corridors, cultural landscapes, and promote geo-tourism conservation in Montana.
• We have integrated byways with resource management objectives; such as fuels reduction work for fire safe communities recently completed along the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway corridor in South Dakota.
• We are collaborating with Shasta Cascades Wonderland Association in northern California to market local destinations for heritage and wildlife tourism and to pilot the idea of back-country touring routes off National and State byways.
• We are working to integrate our Nature-watch wildlife viewing sites into the Washington State Tourism Office and Scenic Byways website itineraries.

It is our vision that planning and marketing America’s Byways® could be inclusive of these forest byways. This would allow the federal partners greater resources to collaborate with our local and state partners to create a multiple tier system of routes eligible for national byways grants. The inclusion of these highly scenic and historically important forest routes on federal lands would greatly enhance the overall collection of America’s Byways® and be more representative of this country’s rich opportunities for scenic touring

As we maneuver into the 21^st century, protecting the appearance of our scenic byways will require, in most cases, more than what a corridor management plan alone can address.

Byway organizations should:

• develop a scenic conservation plan to inventory the visual assets along a byway, identify major issues and possible threats facing the corridor, and prioritize actions to address the concerns.

• consider in the plan those actions possible along the roadway itself, within the corridor viewshed, within byway communities, or at any byway-marketed points of interest.

• include strategies for reducing visual clutter, eliminating billboards, revitalizing a downtown Main Street, establishing scenic easements, or developing ordinances for siting wireless communication towers.

All byways have visual appeal. Our vision for the future should not be one in which the visual character or aesthetic values of a corridor are afterthoughts. We must strive to achieve conditions that enrich the byway experience, preserve its integrity and character, and reinforce the identity of its communities.

Our vision is to see the potential of this route fully realized by continuing to capitalize on partnerships in the region. Additionally, we believe that the creative partnerships being undertaken around the country will make all our National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads an integral and universally recognized part of the American landscape over the next 15 years. Our vision includes:

• Partnerships with regional and statewide tourism associations around the country to utilize byways as the spine that links together tourism attractions in our byways regions. By linking attractions together, byways can create the critical mass necessary to draw tourists.

• Close coordination with colleges and universities in the byways regions. Such partnerships can contribute to the long-term sustainability of byways by tapping into faculty expertise—particularly in areas related to byways’ intrinsic qualities, community and economic development.

• Partnerships with academic programs at the elementary, secondary, and higher education level to provide classroom enrichment, as well as opportunities for research projects. Our byway, for example, has become an essential component of the Heritage Studies Ph.D. program at Arkansas State University.

• Partnerships with state historic preservation offices to preserve the historic built environment along our byways and to develop preservation-based economic development strategies. We currently are participating in a three-year Rural Heritage Development Initiative funded by the Kellogg Foundation through the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and we hope to achieve results that can be shared and replicated around the country. Partners include Arkansas Delta Byways, Main Street Arkansas, five Main Street communities in the region, and the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas.

• Over the next 15 years, we see community successes around the country, where byway status has been used as a catalyst for community development, including inviting entrances to communities along these routes, reinvigorated and thriving downtowns, and empty historic buildings converted to new uses.

• Perhaps most importantly, we envision that byways around the country can generate greater appreciation for scenic conservation. Many of us risk losing the resources that make our byways unique, and it will require unique partnerships and strategies to ensure that our byway landscapes are available to future generations

Why not use Scenic Byways as the leading-edge “laboratory” to test creative new approaches to alerting motorists that they are approaching a wayside, a recreation opportunity or an interpretive site? Consistent throughout a byway - or all byways - these innovative cues could effectively communicate a standardized message, much like a stop sign, while helping to eliminate the need for visual clutter and creating a sense of continuity along the byway. Several unique, recognizable rhythms or tonal patterns could be used as audible invitations to pause along the byway, making visitors more receptive to “hearing” the byway stories we have to tell.