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Tour boat operator ponders 'reach' of new monument
Tim Arntzen could be sitting on a liquid gold mine - the one that runs through the Tri-Cities. Five years after he established his Columbia River Journeys boat company to give tours of the Hanford Reach, the 51-mile stretch of river above Richland was added to the roll of national monuments earlier this month. And that might mean a ticket on one of Arntzen's boats is one of the hottest in town - but he's waiting to see if his mother lode isn't just fool's gold. "It's amazing how little we know about what the management directive will be," he said. "We get that a lot on the boat tours. They say, 'What do you expect?' and I am dumbfounded." Arntzen isn't the only one in the Tri-Cities who wants to lure tourists with the new status symbol. "People have heard about the Reach here in the state of Washington and in environmental circles throughout the United States," said Kris Watkins, executive director of the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau. "But that designation ... kind of brings it into America's collective conscience as a place that's special and unique." Both Richland and Kennewick are angling for a piece of that image. The Richland City Council said earlier this month that it wants a Reach visitors center to help boost tourism, which is one of the city's economic development goals. And Kennewick City Manager Bob Kelly said he wants to incorporate information about the new monument in that city's planned visitors center near the Edison Street interchange in Columbia Park. "You are going to need something in a readily accessible population center that helps explain what this is all about," said Kelly, noting that the city's vision is a regional one-stop shop for visitors that also includes information about American Indian culture, the wine industry, Columbia Basin agriculture and other regional interests. The trouble is that no one is sure how many tourists the monument designation will bring or what the ground rules will be when the tourists get here. Human access is one of the key parts of the monument management plan that will be created over the next few years. But for now, everyone is left wondering, and many community leaders are hoping they can sit on the advisory panel to help set Reach rules. "I don't know what this means," Watkins said. "I really don't know how many people follow a designation like this." But she's trying to find out by calling around to towns and tourists bureaus near monuments across the West. Her agency has tried to sell outsiders on the river for years and use the Columbia's image to better the reputation generally associated with the Hanford nuclear site. She steers convention groups and travel writers toward Arntzen. "People on the trips had an absolutely wonderful trip every time," Watkins said. "They left with a very favorable opinion of the Tri-Cities." Arntzen is hoping for more of the same - though he, too, wonders what the future will hold for his two-boat venture. When Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was in Richland, he confirmed at a public meeting that Arntzen would get to continue his business. "It's not that I don't believe the secretary, but it is still a concern," Arntzen said. The monument designation was announced after Arntzen's promotional materials were printed for the year, so his monument advertising for now might be largely word of mouth. "This year, I am going to try to continue on as well as we can, and maybe next year look at some different marketing." With the exception of anglers who fish the Reach and a few hikers or bird watchers, Arntzen's boat trips have been perhaps the major way that people have seen the Reach in the last five years. But he's not content to wait for a new onslaught of customers. "Those people that think they are going to see an overnight increase (in visitors) will be mistaken," he said. "I can't just open my doors and expect people to show up." | |