Take a Walk on the Wild Side

by Randy Weckman

Experts in economic development sometimes advise community leaders to look at what they already have that could serve as a basis for economic development before they worry about what they don't have. After all, they reason, you don't decide what you're going to have for supper by making a list of what you don't have in your pantry.

Using that positive approach, the people of Letcher County spied a potential crown jewel in their own backyard—Pine Mountain, which is both historic and ecologically significant and a potential renewable resource for tourism. But how would they move from idea to realization?

That's where Cooperative Extension Agent Shad Baker entered the picture. Four years ago, Baker responded to community interest in developing a hiking trail through the area — a hiking trail that would allow local and maybe some regional hikers to enjoy the wilderness of Pine Mountain.

Baker worked with interested local leaders to form a committee to explore the concept of a simple hiking trail.

Committee: Promote, Protect
The committee, small at first and comprised mostly of people interested in hiking, quickly expanded to include other local leaders who realized that Pine Mountain, if properly promoted and protected, would be the economic shot in the arm they needed to offset dwindling coal revenues.

Economic incentive is pretty strong in Letcher County. After all, its major industry, coal mining, has had its shares of ups and downs. Some 50 percent of jobs in the mining industry evaporated between 1990 and 1995, leaving county people in need of jobs. Per capita income ranks at just 54 percent of the national average.

Baker knew firsthand the riskiness of depending on coal for long-run economic stability; both his mother and father were coal miners.

"But coal isn't the only blessing we have in this mountain," Baker said.

Because he grew up in Jenkins, Baker is no stranger to Pine Mountain. "My grandpa taught me to squirrel hunt on Pine Mountain," he said. "I think if you're from the area, Pine Mountain always rests in your soul."

Baker, like many a mountain boy, plays modest about his role in taking the community leaders' concept and making it a reality.

"I did what Extension agents do. I helped the people of Letcher County think through their idea. I connected them with experts who could help them hone it into a package that would serve the county's interest in ecotourism while protecting the ecological uniqueness of the mountain," Baker said. "They did the work; I just gave them ideas on how to organize their efforts."

Wild Side

Tourist Attraction
One of the first things the local committee did was take stock of what Pine Mountain offered for tourists. They found one main attraction — a 60-foot waterfall, Bad Branch Falls. The falls was known locally but probably not on any list of must-see spots for tourists, although visitors seldom fail to be awestruck by its majesty and the peaceful wilderness surrounding it.

"We believed that the number of tourists coming to view Bad Branch Falls would be enhanced if we developed a hiking trail. People could do both when they visited Letcher County," Baker said. And the more tourists visit, the more money they spend, which boosts the local economy.

With enthusiasm running on high, the committee added more members who could help flesh out a plan. With about 150 members, it became the Pine Mountain Trail Conference Inc., a more formal organization that would take the idea to the next step —
a plan of action.

From Simple to Spectacular
As the local leaders talked about their dreams of sharing Pine Mountain with the rest of the world, they broadened their initial concept of the simple, relatively short hiking trail into a spectacular nature trail — not quite as extensive as the Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine, but a nature trail long enough to be significant to backpackers, hikers, and nature enthusiasts. Their plans included a 120-mile-long trail from Breaks Interstate Park (on the Kentucky-Tennessee-Virginia border) to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park (near Middlesboro) that would include the picturesque vistas and panoramas that only Pine Mountain could offer. Their trail would be a very narrow corridor trail — sometimes only 250 feet wide, sometimes 1,000 feet wide — that would feature natural treasures including upland bogs, pine barrens, meadows, and pioneer homesteads.

"We are set right smack dab in the middle of the Pine Mountain Corridor and a stone's throw from Breaks State Park," Baker said. "We thought if we connected the dots, so to speak, with a nature trail along the spine of Pine Mountain—between Breaks State Park and the lower end of the mountain 120 miles southwest at Cumberland Gap near Middlesboro—we could have an ecotourism attraction that would lure many tourists to the region."

Because of the plans of the Pine Mountain Trail Conference, the trail—even though still just an idea (although a great idea) was named one of 16 Millennium Trails by the White House Millennium Council in 1999, which selected trails that were both ecologically and historically significant. Extension agent Baker completed the application for the honor.

First Dollars, Then Work
Just two years after a few local people asked Baker to help them put together a simple hiking trail, the plans were under way for a major ecotourism draw. And the Pine Mountain Trail Conference, bolstered by the Millennium designation, applied for a grant of $1 million to start buying land and easements for the trail's head in Letcher County. By 2000, the grant was earmarked for the Pine Mountain Trail Conference in the federal transportation budget, in large measure through the efforts of Rep. Hal Rogers.

With the grant, the conference began construction of the trail from U.S. 23 near Jenkins to Cumberland Gap. Locals call this stretch of Pine Mountain the Birch Knob section. When this first leg of the trail was completed, the conference, with the help of the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Service, published a trail guide for would-be tourists. The 60-page guide describes the local flora and fauna and provides maps of points of interest in Letcher County.

Because of its early success, the enthusiasm of Letcher County leaders, and the promise of economic development coming to the area with the Pine Mountain Trail project, Gov. Paul Patton asked to meet with representatives from the group to explore crafting a bill to establish the corridor needed to complete the trail. And, he allocated $600,000 to match $600,000 provided by the Department for Local Government to start purchasing privately held land to augment the public land that makes up much of the trail.

In March 2002, Gov. Patton signed the bill establishing the corridor into law. The $1.2 million Patton provided, in addition to the $1 million received through the federal transportation grant, put really sturdy legs on the plan.

And to further help Letcher County's local leaders, the governor asked for $1.2 million from the T21 fund, a federal program to enhance transportation in the 21st century.

Today and Tomorrow
Already, four years after the first community leaders asked Baker for help in thinking through their idea, the Pine Mountain Trail is a reality, with 32 miles of trails established. The currently open stretch starts at Breaks Interstate Park in Elkhorn City and meanders along the ridge of the Virginia side of Pine Mountain and back into Kentucky at U.S. 23 above Jenkins. Another 90 miles of trail will be designated within the next decade.

Will the trail make a difference in the county's economy in the next few years?

UK Cooperative Extension tourism specialist Rick Bates said that the economic difference the trail will make will resonate throughout the local economy. He estimates that the average tourist spends about $50 per day for food, lodging, and incidentals.

Baker estimates that the finished trail will attract between 100,000 and 200,000 tourists each year, although only a small number of them will hike the entire 120 miles of the trail. That yearly estimate rivals the 250,000 pioneers who crossed west to the frontier through the Cumberland Gap throughout its entire use from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s.

The effects of that number of tourists spending $50 per day will be big for a county where unemployment and underemployment are high. Not only will more tourists mean more dollars coming into the county, but there will be more jobs as business activity expands to provide food, lodging, and hiking equipment for the tourists.

Baker is proud of the Letcher County leaders' accomplishments with the ecotourism project.

"This project shows that Extension is the art of the possible," Baker said.

Pine Mountain Trail State Park became
official March 30, 2002. On hand to
mark the day were, from left to right,
Leonard Fleming, Kentucky Department
of Transportation; Shad Baker, Kentucky
Cooperative Extension Service;
Randy Tackett, Letcher County attorney;
and Gov. Paul Patton.

Ecotourism:

An Old Concept with a New Name
Kentuckians are not strangers to ecotourism, even though the term is relatively modern. From the 1850s on, Kentucky had abundant forms of it, from the strange to the still popular. Many other states did, too. Recall Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Ruby Falls in Tennessee, and the La Brea Tar Pits in California, to name just a few.

In Kentucky, sulfur baths were popular respites for mid-19th century Kentuckians — at least for the landed gentry and their coterie. Called "taking the waters," these mini-vacations included a strong dose of attention plus bathing in and drinking water from naturally-occurring mineral springs. Evenings at these tourist stops may have been spent at a cotillion — the place to see and be seen by those who could afford it.

While scientists today would ascribe little to the curative powers of such mineralized waters, it is likely that the dosage that made the difference to those who felt the cure was due to the tender loving care "patients" received at the hotels rather than the water they bathed in or drank. The revelry that accompanied taking the waters may well have been the efficacious tonic the patrons needed.Lodging, food, and trinkets to take home to attest to one's good style in visiting the caves became a regular source of economic stimulation. Mammoth Cave alone is said to provide more than $96 million in economic activity annually to the surrounding area. The Mammoth Cave area was an early 20th century ecotourism stop. The vast underground caves, replete with stalactites and stalagmites, lured thousands of people each year to visit the area — as the caves still do. It didn't take a Wall Street banker to figure out that visitors to the caves spent far, far more money locally than the simple cost of a ticket into the underground warrens. By the 1880s, guides were hired to shepherd visitors throughout the caves. For a price, tourists could visit various rooms of the caves that were embellished by fanciful names such as the Gothic Chapel, the Maelstrom Pit, and the Bridal Altar. The Pine Mountain Trail will serve as the modern economic catalyst for tourism. Its ecotourism appeal is to conservationists, nature lovers, and those who want to enjoy the ecology of the mountain. And while the trail will mean big business, it will also be compatible with conservation and preservation of an ecologically important area. If you want to know more about hiking the Pine Mountain Trail or want to see the beauty of the trail, log onto the Web at: www.pinemountaintrail.com Information about Bad Branch Falls can be accessed on the Web at: www.KYnaturepreserves.org/ badbranch.html

When Continents Collide

Kentucky's Pine Mountain, on the Kentucky-Tennessee-Virginia border, displays its history on its western shoulder, where visitors can see the swell of the layers of rock set at 40 degrees to the horizontal. The layers of the northwestern edge of Pine Mountain were pushed up about 2,000 feet eons ago. Since that time, wind and water have reduced that amount by half. At one strategic point, now called the Cumberland Gap, erosion was sufficient for passage of both people and migrating animals.

The 120-mile-long Pine Mountain (it reaches from near Jellico, Tenn., through Pound, Va., northward to Pikeville) was so named because of large stands of pine trees scattered throughout its length, in sharp contrast to other nearby mountains that have few pines, including Black Mountain and Cumberland Mountain. The pine stands on the mountain are due, it is thought, to its thin, sandy soil. It isn't just pines that make Pine Mountain distinctive. The other flora and fauna on the mountain are unusual, too. One source says that the mountain is home to more than 90 species of rare plants and animals. Several of these are known nowhere else in the world. Of the more common species, deer (and now elk), bear, and other small mammals, along with raptors and other high-flying birds, use the 120-mile-long narrow corridor to move between feeding areas.

Ecotourists will be able to experience the wilderness of the mountain as they hike its trails and imagine the area a hundred, a thousand, a million years ago.

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