Promoting the Maine brand is good for our economy

By Rep. Jeff McCabe

We need to work together on a vision and plan to grow outdoor recreation, tourism.

School’s out and the northbound traffic on Route 201 is getting heavier. It’s a reminder of how important the outdoors and recreation are to Maine’s economy.

Like a lot of other Mainers, my wife and I have made some of our family’s income through the outdoor summer recreation businesses around the state of Maine. We worked at summer camps in the past, and these days I work as a Maine guide who takes people paddling and whitewater rafting.

As an elected official, I see how important it is for our state need to make the most of our outdoor recreation opportunities and to promote our world-famous Maine brand — whether we’re talking about fishing for Maine’s iconic brook trout, hunting in the North Woods, hiking around Moosehead Lake, ATV-ing on the Downeast Sunrise Trail or attending a lakeside summer camp.

The state’s Office of Tourism recently took a small step forward by hiring a destination specialist. This needs to be part of a much larger vision and plan to promote our Maine brand.

We must not let our small differences stand in the way of these larger goals. As a state, we can work with private and public partners to get the word out about all that Maine has to offer: the mighty Kennebec; lighthouses like Quoddy Head in Lubec; the amazing food scene in Portland; Sand Beach in Acadia National Park; Screw Auger Falls in the Gulf Hagas area and so many others. The list goes on.

We are one Maine. Working together, we will lift our entire state.

With more than $5.6 billion in direct spending, tourism is Maine’s largest economic sector. And it’s growing, thanks largely to big increases in recreational spending. Outdoor recreation directly supports 65,000 jobs. Summer camps, meanwhile, generate $332 million in economic impact and employ 500 full-time workers and over 10,000 seasonal workers.

We can do more. It will take state agencies working together seamlessly — and recognizing that we can’t pit different land management styles against one another. They each play a role. A strong working forest is vital to our economic health and so are non-consumptive uses like outdoor recreation.

In the meantime, I know I’ll soon be stuck in traffic behind a bus bringing summer camp kids to the local Gifford’s ice cream shop. I don’t mind because I know that that bus means more money in the pockets of working Maine families.

I hope you get out this weekend — head to camp, visit a state park, try paddleboarding or otherwise get out and enjoy the great Maine outdoors.

Representative Jeff McCabe (D-Skowhegan) is the House majority leader.