*Wind Power Trail*
www.windpowertrail.com
Giant Vestas Wind Turbine North of Gruver |
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806-664-6770 www.wildsteps.com
806-747-5232 john.armor@lubbocklegends.org
Oklahoma Tourism and Recreations Department 405-522-3932 hwatkins@travelok.com
806-659-5555 www.spearman.org spearman@arn.net |
Photo of JB Buchanan Windmill Park courtesy of
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*Trail Map*
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Partnerships
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Wednesday, January 15, 2004 (Spearman, Texas) Capitalizing on increasing car travel in the High Plains regions of Oklahoma and Texas, a consortium of cities, businesses, and agencies have launched a travel project that interprets the history of wind energy along a 600-mile corridor. Windmills and barbed wire were responsible for widespread settlement of the High Plains, and giant wind farms now promise to play an equally important role as a source of renewable energy. The historic, cultural, and scientific tale of wind will be wrapped up in an interpretive driving route, made accessible to car and RV travelers in the form of a map, an audio CD, and a web site. Participating communities hope that the map and CD will entice travelers to spend a little more time in their town, perhaps rounding out their visit with a meal, some Main Street shopping, and a good experience that will make them want to return. Business partners are hoping that the trail will help publicize wind energy. State and local agencies are using the trail as a way to foster economic development in rural towns, create interstate relationships, help small communities work with large ones, and deliver new tourism “product” to the region. The project is designed to coincide with the annual International Windmill Fair, held this June in Shattuck, Oklahoma. The event attracts windmill enthusiasts from all over the world, and will be a showcase for the other communities on the trail. Begun as a light-hearted conversation at the Panhandle Diner, the wind power trail was dreamed up by chamber director Gina Gillispie and developed as a concept by the Spearman Economic Development Corporation. The trail now includes stops in Lawton, Norman, Elk City, Woodward, Shattuck, Spearman, Canyon, Plainview, and Lubbock. Additional communities will likely be added to the trail, and many “right between Oklahoma and Texas, and crucial support from the Oklahoma Department of Tourism helped turn a local initiative into an interstate venture. Major energy suppliers such as Oklahoma Gas and Electric, and Western Farmers’ Electric Cooperative of Lawton have also seen the trail as a vehicle to advance their twin goals of community development and publicity for renewable energy. Bergey Wind Power, a manufacturer of home wind energy turbines, saw the trail as a way in increase consumer awareness about its products. The world’s largest historic windmill collection, the American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, also saw the project as a way to address important conservation issues related to the upkeep and restoration of historic windmills. Similar concerns of the Buchanan Windmill Park and Shattuck Windmill Museum led to early support for the project. The historic collection at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, and the Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas A&M University, were also interested in the exposure to their facilities that the trail could bring. Convention and visitor bureaus in Norman and Lubbock see the venture as a way to add another level of activities and tourism product to their current mix. The Big 12 rivalry between Sooners and Red Raiders has, like all football rivalries, caused the respective communities to learn a lot about each other. In the case of Lubbock and Norman, the wind power trail was a natural extension of the tourism exchange that occurs every year between the two cities. Wind energy and the construction, maintenance, and business activity associated with it made the wind power trail a logical link for communities such as Woodward and Elk City, towns that have aggressively pursued economic development through tourism. These same issues—wind power, community revitalization, and a desire to publicize their community—led to early support by the Spearman Economic Development Corporation. Although Oklahoma and Texas have robust tourism industries, and although both states have complementary tourism products, the division created by state lines has long acted as a barrier to cooperation between the two neighbors. Hardy Watkins, director of Travel and Tourism for the Oklahoma Department of Tourism, immediately recognized that a successful project in the sparsely populated High Plains would depend on cooperation that followed geographic right-of-way” windmills—those observable from the road—will also be included on the map. The is the first large-scale cooperative tourism project in the sparsely populated High Plains would depend on cooperation that followed geographic contours rather than state lines. “The wind doesn’t exactly respect state borders,” was a comment heard early on. Watkins and travel package manager Barbie Elder, also with the department of tourism, emphasized that the scope of the trail needed to follow the wind farms and windmill museums—even if that meant leaving the comfortable confines of the state line. In the same vein, Kathy Adams, director of the regional tourism council Red Carpet Country, saw the interstate project as one that deserved the regional support of her organization. Shattuck, Oklahoma, has a lot more in common with Spearman, Texas, than either of those towns have with their respective state capitals. Participants do not expect that their communities will be filled overnight with wind power enthusiasts. They are confident, however, that the wind power trail will attract interest in the short term, and will pay long-term dividends in terms of tourism, economic development, and support for renewable energy. The map, audio CD, and web site will be completed by May 31, 2004. For more information:
Contacts: Western Farmers’ Electric Cooperative: Scott Williams,
S_Williams@wfec.com, (405) 247-4563
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