Overtourism and Community Stewardship

Over-tourism is a fact. From Barcelona to Lake Tahoe, towns and cities that, for various reasons, have caught the traveling public’s eye are becoming over-visited, over-crowded and chronically dysfunctional for visitors and residents alike. Everybody likes a little attention; nobody likes too much.

The answer is stewardship: the act of taking care of something valued. Historically, Philipstown has taken care of its own lands and resources. The people of this community have served as stewards. The Fjord Trail, overseen by unelected appointees, would undermine that.

For years now, Scenic Hudson and Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail have been positioning the Fjord Trail to attract a whole lot of attention and bring more and more people to this community.

Scenic Hudson’s vision was to “ensure this project becomes the epicenter for outdoor recreation in Hudson Highlands State Park and the Hudson River Valley.”* Amy Kacala, executive director of the HHFT, has told the state Department of Transportation that they estimate 600,000 annual visitors to the Fjord Trial upon its completion.* That’s a 25 percent increase over current visitation levels—levels that already swamp Cold Spring.

Our stewardship is required now to preserve the rare qualities and scenic beauty that our town uniquely possesses while balancing ways to share it intelligently with the many people who wish to visit here.

The Fjord Trail project, because of its partnership with NYS Parks and their attendant regulatory powers, would take the decision-making of smart stewardship away from local citizens and instead offer Cold Spring up as collateral damage to an overblown, outsized riverfront theme park.

The blazing neon arrow of vast media coverage will point to Cold Spring as the beginning terminus of the “trail” and bring on all the truly difficult challenges of becoming an enhanced destination spot without providing any answers for dealing with them.

Cold Spring has already felt the effects of over-tourism and overcrowding. The Fjord Trail project will be exponentially greater in magnitude than any other development our town has experienced. It is our obligation to be stewards of our small town with its breathtaking mountains, healthy forests and picturesque waterfront. The Fjord Trail project—backed by a billionaire and his handpicked board of directors—is a direct and immediate threat to our ability to practice community stewardship and care on our own terms. Ultimately the choice must be ours to make.

* July 19, 2013 Letter from Scenic Hudson to Ms. Rose Harvey, Commissioner NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.

* Amy Kacala: to DOT