[artstarvedinar]

Outdoor Life Magazine has ranked Mountain Home #1 of 200 towns in America for hunting and fishing. (www.outdoorlife.com). Wow. It seems the secret is out. Come see for yourself.

[Capt. Dan]

Man! i hate to see that! More Yankees comin down to fish and hunt!

[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by Lt. Dan

Man! i hate to see that! More Yankees comin down to fish and hunt!

I hear you. It's a Catch-22....new people with money for the economy, but also more crowded conditions, and sometimes it's people who cannot appreciate the Arkansas way of life or culture or mindset or whatever, and try to change it into what they consider "cultured" or "right", etc. We've seen that attitude right here on these boards....putting Arkansas down because Eureka Springs "has a statue of Jesus", and people "wear camouflage and drive trucks" and "go to church" and say "fer" (for or far), and on and on. *sigh*

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by Lt. Dan

Man! i hate to see that! More Yankees comin down to fish and hunt!

They ain't gonna be coming to Newton or Searcy county any day soon and putting them on any lists.... There you go, my tip for the day.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by luvarkansas

I hear you. It's a Catch-22....new people with money for the economy, but also more crowded conditions, and sometimes it's people who cannot appreciate the Arkansas way of life or culture or mindset or whatever, and try to change it into what they consider "cultured" or "right", etc. We've seen that attitude right here on these boards....putting Arkansas down because Eureka Springs "has a statue of Jesus", and people "wear camouflage and drive trucks" and "go to church" and say "fer" (for or far), and on and on. *sigh*

EXACTLY!!!!!

[Capt. Dan]

It really is a catch 22. I have 18 acres of forest on my property. plumb full of deer,turkey. rabbit,squirrel etc. But i wont let anyone besides family hunt the property because i am tired of having to go out there and clean up the plastic bottles, beer cans, McDonalds wrappers and assorted other crap! The deer herd really does need to be thinned but I'm just tired of the mess! An influx of hunters from out of state WILL bring repercussions. So i guess the question is; will they spend enough $$ while they are in Arkansas to justify the cost of cleaning up after them?

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by Lt. Dan

It really is a catch 22. I have 18 acres of forest on my property. plumb full of deer,turkey. rabbit,squirrel etc. But i wont let anyone besides family hunt the property because i am tired of having to go out there and clean up the plastic bottles, beer cans, McDonalds wrappers and assorted other crap! The deer herd really does need to be thinned but I'm just tired of the mess! An influx of hunters from out of state WILL bring repercussions. So i guess the question is; will they spend enough $$ while they are in Arkansas to justify the cost of cleaning up after them?

It all depends. For every dollar they spend the county and cities will only get a few cents immediately. To me, it's obviously not enough to cover the impact costs of the increased traffic. Now, here's the rub...if enough people come and enough jobs can be added, then the income levels rise (somewhat, it's still a service sector we're talking about) more people move to the area to supply the labor and more homes are purchased, increasing the local tax base. If you look at Branson then it appears feasible that this tourist trade CAN pay for it's own impact but the lag time seems terrible and the sheer numbers of people that needs to pass through seems to be extremely high. In the case of natural area tourism, I don't think it can ever reach pay back without destroying what it was that created it in the first place.

[CESpeed]

Heck! If Arkansas is going to turn into California, I may as well stay here. I guess I'll come and enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.

[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

They ain't gonna be coming to Newton or Searcy county any day soon and putting them on any lists.... There you go, my tip for the day.

Ahhh, Newton County....one of the most beautiful counties in Arkansas! And sparsely populated, just the way I like it....the county seat, Jasper, has about 500 people now, doesn't it? I love Jasper. And I love the Buffalo River. Shopping malls? You can HAVE 'em!

[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by CESpeed

Heck! If Arkansas is going to turn into California, I may as well stay here. I guess I'll come and enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.

There are only a few places like that. Mostly it's still peace and quiet. And compared to California, I suppose that even Little Rock would be considered "peace and quiet".