Ah, summer on the Hudson River. There are many opportunities for both residents and tourists to engage in cultural, nature-based and water recreation activities. A NYSG-funded study by Drs. Rudy Schuster and Diane Kuehn from SUNY ESF looked at nature and heritage tourism in NY’s Hudson River Valley communities and provided representative communities with information concerning the image that tourists and residents hold of the destination. Study results were described in a recently-published symposium proceedings:

Sullivan, L.E., R.M. Schuster, D.M. Kuehn, C.S. Doble, and D. Morais. 2010. Building Sustainable Communities Using Sense of Place Indicators in Three Hudson River Valley, NY, Tourism Destinations: An Application of the Limits of Acceptable Change Process. Pages 173-179 in C. Watts, editor. Proceedings of the 2009 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium; 2009 March 29-31; Bolton Landing, NY. GTR-NRS-P -66. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station.

“The study was welcomed by local partners as Hudson River communities continue to search for the best ways to incorporate nature-based tourism,” said Nordica Holochuck, NYSG’s Hudson Estuary specialist. “Our region is home to unique cities and villages and local residents enthusiastically reported both positive and negative attributes defining their sense of place, certainly helping the researchers understand and communicate acceptable change.” Study results have been used by one Hudson Valley village in its master planning process and have generated interest by county tourism directors, city planning offices and local chambers of commerce.

— Barbara A. Branca and Nordica Holochuck