[TN-Bird] Chattanooga vision (long)

  • From: "David Aborn" <David-Aborn@xxxxxxx>
  • To: "TN-Bird" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2003 16:00:40 -0500

Last night I, along with 900 other people, attended a forum in =
Chattanooga
to learn more about and help shape the Mayor's desire to make =
Chattanooga
and the surrounding area an outdoor recreation destination. Tennessee =
ranks
47th out of the 48 contiguous states in outdoor recreation =
participation.
The mayor would like to see Chattanooga as a place where local, state, =
and
out-of-state recreationists want to come to participate in various =
outdoor
activities for various reasons (relaxation, competition, challenge, =
etc.).
If implemented properly, this idea could improve the economic,
environmental, and personal quality of life in east Tennessee. The focus
last night was not on any one activity, but rather what outdoor assets =
the
Chattanooga area has and what it needs to do to accomplish the goal of
making Chattanooga the Boulder of the east (Boulder, CO, Ashville, NC,
Austin, TX, Burlington, VT, and Portland, OR are all being looked at as
models). Nonetheless, it was clear that there were many interests =
present
(e.g. cycling, kayaking, rock climbing, etc.), and that they want their
voices heard above the others in implementing the plan. As you all know,
birding is a popular and lucrative activity that can be enjoyed by =
people of
all ages, income levels, motivation levels, etc., something that cannot =
be
said of some other activities. While there was no time for each interest
group to have their say, there is a web site where people can voice =
their
ideas for the city's plan. We (especially Chattanooga TOS members) =
should
not let birding get left out. If you go to the web site
(http://www.outdoorchattanooga.com), there are links to 19 different =
outdoor
activities. Birding is not among those listed. I encourage people to =
email
the people involved with this project (click on the "contact" tab of the =
web
site) and voice your support of birding as an important outdoor =
recreational
activity. The area already has 2 national birding recognitions (the =
crane
festival in Birchwood has been listed as a top 10 activity by Southern
Living magazine, and Brainerd Levee is listed in the National Geographic
Guide to Bird Watching Sites in the US), and we have many more sites to
offer. If you are interested in keeping abreast of what is happening =
with
the plan, or want to participate in the future planning sessions, look =
the
web site, or keep up with the Chattanooga area news outlets.

I'm sorry if I got on a soap box, but as I said, I think it's important =
that
the birding population not get left behind.

David Aborn
Chattanooga, TN

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