cultural connections

In 2008, Sustainable Sandhills began work in yet another facet of sustainability:  Eco-Tourism. A committee was formed to work on several Eco-Tourism projects spanning across the 8-county region.

All of these projects focus on creating regional connections for tourism, linking agricultural and conservation efforts, and organizing our cultural resources.

Golden LEAF Grant Project

Sustainable Sandhills intends to apply for a grant (due August 1, 2008) to create the “Sandhills and Cape Fear Trailways (SCFT)”.  This will be a network of greenways, trails and scenic by-ways that connects treasured places – the parks, vibrant downtowns, and cultural, heritage and recreational destinations – in the Sandhills and Cape Fear Region. The main goals of this project include:

• Increase tourism (eco-tourism, agritourism and cultural heritage tourism)
• Preserve the natural environment
• Enhance the region’s ability to attract and retain business
• Unify existing initiatives under a regional umbrella to increase their impact and the pool of funding opportunities

Cultural Resources Data Dictionary and Cultural Resources Inventory

The dictionary and inventory are being completed through a grant from the Interagency Leadership Team (ILT). The purpose of the project is to create a database of cultural resource sites in the Sandhills region, provide access to this data and to organize the data in such a way that local communities will be able to use it to promote the sites included within. The group is working on establishing key information that must be collected from each cultural resource so that a uniform database can be created.

 National Heritage Designation

The Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (FACVB) has several Task Forces that work toward creating cultural connections throughout the Fayetteville Area. One of these is the Cape Fear River Task Force which works on achieving a National Heritage Designation for the area surrounding the Cape Fear River. Because the Cape Fear River covers much of the region, Sustainable Sandhills has partnered with this Task Force to work on this initiative.  The Alliance of National Heritage Areas (ANHA) defines a heritage area as a geographic region where “a combination of natural, cultural, historic and recreational resources has shaped a cohesive nationally distinctive landscape.”

 Supporting RASP (Regional Agriculture Sustainability Program)

RASP is a program run by the BRAC RTF through their Working Lands Protection Strategy (WLPS).  The program works to encourage the use of local produce and products by creating connections throughout the region and to Fort Bragg. Sustainable Sandhills is working to support this effort in any way possible as a means to a more sustainable region. (Read more about RASP at www.bracrtf.com.) ww