Driggs to get ‘geotourism’ center

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

By Ben Cannon

National Geographic involvement could boost profile.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - A plan to build an unconventional visitor center in Driggs could boost tourism to the Teton Valley and throughout the tri-state area that makes up the Greater Yellowstone region.

The Greater Yellowstone Geotourism Center, believed to be the first of its kind, will be one part visitor center, one part interpretive facility, said Teton Valley Chamber of Commerce president Reid Rogers, who is heading up the initiative.

So called “geotourism” differs from ecotourism, or travel to pristine natural environs, in that the former incorporates historic and cultural aspects of a destination. Ecotourism also promotes sustaining, or even enhancing, a place’s character – social and natural.

The term was coined by a National Geographic editor, and the organization will lend its insignia, and some prime display items, to the new center in Driggs.

“We’re tying to build an institution that represents the entire Yellowstone area,” Rogers said.

The concept evolved about five years ago, when National Geographic identified the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as one of the world’s important geographical areas, a place where communities grew amongst great natural character.

Last March, National Geographic, working with a task force with representatives from Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, began publishing a map guide area. The map is available throughout the area, including at the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, and lists attractions like the historic Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park, and information about the area’s indigenous people and wildlife. An online version of the map, available at www.YellowstoneGeotourism.org, allows for more comprehensive listings.

Rogers said the geotourism initiative happened to dovetail with plans to build a visitor’s center in Driggs.

“I went to National Geographic and asked them if anyone has turned their theory of geotourism in a physical institution, a physical location to experience what it is you’re talking about,” Rogers said. “They said it was almost a perfect extension of what a community could do.”

Plans have not been finalized for the facility, which will be built along Main Street on the site of the Music on Main concert series during the summer. Rogers said organizers have secured a little more than $1 million in local, state and federal grant money, and will probably need about $1.5 million to complete the project. The center is one of four major projects in Driggs that could change the face and function of downtown, Rogers said.

While National Geographic may not contribute any money, it will help market the Greater Yellowstone Geotourism Center to a global audience and has authorized use of its invaluable photo archives. The organization may even send exhibits from its Washington, D.C. headquarters.

The center could be complete as early as September 2010, Rogers said. JHW

Image: Design proposal for Greater Yellowstone Geotourism Center, by Jackson’s Ward+Blake.  COURTESY WARD+BLAKE ARCHITECTS

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Driggs to get ‘geotourism’ center | Planet JH News Article: General News

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