Northern Forest Canoe Trail to Promote Tourism Businesses With $40K Grant

For Immediate Release
June 9, 2010

Contact: Kate Williams, Executive Director
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
802-496-2285 or kate@northernforestcanoetrail.org

WAITSFIELD, Vt. – The Northern Forest Canoe Trail, Inc. (NFCT) has received a $40,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) to promote tourism-based businesses along the recreational waterway in Orleans and Essex Counties.

It is the third consecutive year the NFCT has been awarded United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development funding in Vermont. The organization has also received USDA funding in New Hampshire and Maine in recent years. NFCT has worked with small business partners across the three states to help promote economic development by linking paddlers and other visitors to businesses, service providers and attractions along the 740-mile paddling route.

"The new grant money will help us expand the value-added tourism products we offer along and near the water trail," said NFCT Executive Director Kate Williams. "We also plan to develop a Business Member and Municipal Partner program, and create an economic development report showing the impact of our collaboration with local businesses."

NFCT has already partnered with Vermont accommodations, restaurants, recreation services, and cultural and natural attractions to create nine multi-day vacation packages and paddling itineraries. The getaways in the Northeast Kingdom and the Missisquoi River Valley cater to paddlers on Lake Memphremagog, the Clyde and Nulhegan Rivers, Island Pond and the Missisquoi River.

The effort supports NFCT’s mission to improve the region’s economic vitality through increased paddler visits to trailside towns and their businesses. Vacation packages have also been created for paddlers exploring sections of the trail in New Hampshire and Maine.

"Enjoying time on the waterways is one part of the trail, but the attractions, eateries and land-based recreational opportunities in trail communities truly give paddlers a destination experience," said Williams.

Package and itinerary offerings in Vermont can be found online at http://www.northernforestcanoetrail.org/PlanaTrip-18. For more information about the Northern Forest Canoe Trail call 802-496-2285 or visit www.northernforestcanoetrail.org.

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About the Northern Forest Canoe Trail:
The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a 740-mile inland paddling trail tracing historic travel routes across New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire, and Maine. NFCT, Inc. is internationally regarded as the preeminent water trail organization in North America, and connects people to the Trail’s natural environment, human heritage, and contemporary communities by stewarding, promoting, and providing access to canoe and kayak experiences along this route.