WONDERFUL NEWS ABOUT MUSKOKA - DO YOU KNOW IT'S A GREAT PLACE IN THE WORLD TO VISIT - DO YA THINK? WE'VE BEEN TELLING THE WORLD THIS FOR OVER A CENTURY
MUSKOKA AS WALDEN
THE FOLKS LOOKING AFTER THE NEW RE-BRANDING SURVEY, IN THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE, ADOPTED AT CONSIDERABLE EXPENSE, I'M SURE, DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO FIND THE RESOURCE TO GLOM ONTO…..FOR FUTURE POSTERITY. IT'S THE REGION IN WHICH THE TOWN IS SO ATTRACTIVELY NESTLED. MUSKOKA. IT'S THE MESSAGE I SENT, THIS WEEK, TO THE FACT-FINDERS OF THIS MISSION OF DISCOVERY. GET BACK TO THE TIME IN OUR HISTORY, IN THIS REGION, WHEN WE TRULY GAVE A CRAP ABOUT THIS IMMENSE, INCREDIBLE NATURAL RESOURCE, OF WHICH OUR TOURISM INDUSTRY WAS BUILT….AND CONTINUES TO DEPEND. SO WHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE INDUSTRY IN MUSKOKA TODAY? WHAT WILL IT BE IN TWENTY YEARS? FIFTY YEARS IF THE EARTH HOLDS TOGETHER THAT LONG? TOURISM!!! SO WHY NOT WORK TO BE BETTER STEWARDS OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES, THAT KEEP THE REGION'S ECONOMIC ENGINE FIRING?
I HAVE OFTEN COMPLAINED TO THOSE WHO WOULD READ, OR LISTEN, JUST HOW UNFORTUNATE MODERN HISTORY HAS BEEN TO THE REGION OF MUSKOKA. SUCH THAT THOSE WHO WISH TO TRANSFORM THE ONTARIO HINTERLAND, HERE IN MUSKOKA, INTO AN EXTENSION OF URBANITY, HAVE BEEN THE LEADERS OF CHOICE. IT HAS BEEN SEEN AS A BOON TO THE REGION……THIS DUMPING OF BOX STORES AND STRIP MALLS, WHERE FORESTS AND MEADOWS USED TO TANTALIZE ARTISTS AND POETS, AND THOSE WHO FIND THEMSELVES NURTURED AND REVITALIZED BY BEAUTIFUL PLACES. HOW MANY OF OUR OWN CITIZENS HAVE TAKEN THE NATURE OF MUSKOKA FOR GRANTED? HOW MANY OF OUR LEADERS HAVE CONSIDERED OPEN SPACE AS IF SOMETHING UGLY, IN NEED OF BUILDING BLOCKS, TARMAC AND GOOD MARKETING STRATEGIES? HOW MANY HAVE WALKED BY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND COMPELLING SCENERY IN ONTARIO, AND NOT GIVEN IT ONE MOMENT OF TIME, MORE THAN A WORTHY BACKDROP DESERVES? MANY! A MAJORITY OF CITIZENS. A MAJORITY OF OTHERWISE GOOD NEIGHBORS. A MAJORITY OF POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES, ON OUR MUNICIPAL COUNCILS, WHO HAVE FOR YEARS LOOKED AT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITH A SORT OF RECKLESS ABANDON, THAT WE WILL TAKE ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT REMOVES UNSIGHTLY OPEN SPACE. I CONSIDER THE LOSS OF JUBILEE PARK IN BRACEBRIDGE……A PARK FOR THE PEOPLE, IN THE MIDDLE OF AN URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD, AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN AND WILL BE DISPOSED OF IN THE FUTURE, IN THIS BID TO ATTRACT INVESTMENT. IF THEY CAN SELL OFF A PARK, IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN, FOR DEVELOPMENT, WHAT CHANCES DO THE FORESTS AND LOWLANDS HAVE, AGAINST THE WILL OF TOWN COUNCILS. I WONDER IF, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY SLAP THEMSELVES ON THE BACK, WHEN THEY THEN READ COMMENTS, IN THE NATIONAL PRESS, ABOUT MUSKOKA BEING ONE OF THE FINEST TOURIST LOCATIONS IN THE WORLD. REALLY, IT HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THEM.
I HAVE BEEN POUNDING ON THIS THEME OF MUSKOKA CONSERVATION FOR DECADES. BEFORE THAT, I WAS WRITING HUGE FEATURE ARTICLES FOR THE LOCAL PRESS, ABOUT THE GRAND REALITIES OF NATURAL MUSKOKA, TO PERPETUATE THE TOURISM INDUSTRY FOR ANOTHER CENTURY…….IF THE NATURAL RESOURCES WE POSSESS WERE LOOKED AFTER AND TREATED AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION…..NOT JUST SOMETHING YET TO BUILD ON. SPORTSMEN, ADVENTURERS, HEALTH SEEKERS AND VACATIONERS HAVE BEEN COMING TO OUR REGION SINCE THE 1850'S, BECAUSE OF THE NATURAL ATTRIBUTES……THE HEALTH RESTORATIVE CLEAN AIR, AND WATER, SO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN THE RIGORS OF CITY LIFE AND POLLUTION. AND FOR JUST AS LONG, THERE HAVE BEEN THOSE ENTREPRENEURS TAPPING INTO THIS NATURAL ATTRACTION, AND BUILDING SENSIBLY AND PROPORTIONALLY, TO MAKE IT AN INDUSTRY THAT IS BOTH RESILIENT AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO EXPAND….TO GROW. FOR MUCH OF THE PAST THIRTY YEARS, IT HAS BEEN FAR MORE APPARENT, THE APPRECIATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES, HAS BEEN TRUMPED BY THE WILLINGNESS TO EXPLOIT MUSKOKA, AND DRAW WHATEVER APPEARS IN THE FORM OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WHETHER A BOX STORE, A STRIP MALL, OR JUST GOOD OLD URBAN INSPIRED SPRAWL OVER PASTURES AND LOWLANDS……AND RESIDENTIAL UNITS THAT FILL IN VALLEYS, AND HIGHLANDS.
I WON'T STAND ON THE SOAP BOX, AGAINST ALL DEVELOPMENT. IT'S NOT TRUE. I DON'T THINK THIS WAY. BUT IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS, WE WILL BE FACED WITH MUCH MORE SPECULATIVE BUILDING THAN WE'VE SEEN IN TWENTY YEARS, AS URBAN STRESSES FROM BARRIE AND ORILLIA, PUSH NORTHWARD. THE ONLY IMPEDIMENT WILL BE THE NAGGING EUROPEAN DEBT CRISIS, AND WHAT THAT WILL DO TO A DEBT-RIDDEN, AND RECOVERING NORTH AMERICAN ECONOMY. RIGHT NOW, MUSKOKA MAY BE THE BENEFACTOR OF A BRIEF REPRIEVE…….ONE THAT WOULD HOPEFULLY INSPIRE DECISION MAKERS TO THINK LONG AND HARD ABOUT WHAT IS KEEPING OUR TOURISM AS EXCITING AND FULL OF NEW POTENTIAL, AS HAS BEEN WITNESSED. WHAT IS INSPIRING FOLKS WITH EDITORIAL CLOUT, TO GIVE MUSKOKA SUCH WONDERFUL REVIEWS? MUSKOKA. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. AND THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO TOURIST DEMANDS……AND I'VE NEVER HEARD A SINGLE TOURIST, IN ALL MY YEARS LIVING IN THIS REGION, ASK FOR STRIP MALLS AND BOX STORES TO MAKE THEIR MUSKOKA EXPERIENCE MORE ENDEARING. JUST ISN'T SO.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST……AS I CONTINUE TO REMIND LOCAL COUNCILLORS, HAD A SWELL IDEA OF SELLING OFF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WETLAND, BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BUY A NEW TOWN HALL, AND MEDICAL CENTRE. THEY THOUGHT NOTHING OF SELLING OFF THIS IMPORTANT FILTERING BED, FOR LAKE MUSKOKA, FOR NEW RESIDENTIAL LOTS, AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE ALREADY HUNDREDS OF LOTS AND NUMEROUS SUBDIVISION PLANS ON THE BOOKS, LOOKING FOR BUYERS. SO CITIZENS STOOD THEIR GROUND AND PROTECTED THIS IMPORTANT RESOURCE…..THAT WAS SIMPLY A PROTECTION OF THE MUSKOKA THESE WRITERS ARE CREDITING TODAY, FOR MAKING THE REGION A PARADISE TO ESCAPE TO……FROM THE CITY STRESSES.
IT IS OF COURSE, TREMENDOUSLY ENCOURAGING TO READ THESE IMPORTANT EDITORIAL ENDORSEMENTS OF MUSKOKA GENERALLY, BEING A HIGHLY ACCOMMODATING AND BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO VISIT AND ENJOY A VACATION. WE WELCOME THE WORLD TO VISIT, AS WE ALWAYS HAVE. BUT WHAT WOULD BE THE BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH OF ALL, IS THE RE-AWAKENING OF OUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES, TO THE FACT THEY HAVE BEEN LESS THAN FAIR IN RETURN, MAKING SURE THE ENVIRONMENT'S WELL BEING IS FIRST AND FOREMOST…….AS IT IS A GIANT ECONOMIC ENGINE THAT CAN FALTER IF POORLY MAINTAINED. FOR THE PAST TWENTY YEARS IN PARTICULAR, THE CITY BUILDERS ON OUR TOWN COUNCILS, HAVE BEEN FAR MORE EXCITED BY NEWS OF SOME FUTURE INVESTMENT OF CASH, TO BOOST THE LOCAL ECONOMY, THAN SERIOUSLY APPRECIATING THE OVERALL, LONG-TERM CONDITION OF THE CATALYST OF IT ALL. TOURISM, FOR WELL MORE THAN A CENTURY, HAS BEEN MUSKOKA'S NUMBER ONE INDUSTRY. IT IS NO DIFFERENT TODAY. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE, IS THAT TOURISM HAS NOT RECEIVED THE ATTENTION IT HAS RIGHTFULLY DESERVED, AND THUS, LIKE SELLING OFF PARKS, AND FILLING IN LOWLANDS TO ADVANCE DEVELOPMENT……WE HAVE BEEN LESS THAN SATISFACTORY STEWARDS, OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET. OUR NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, WE HAVE SEEN FOR YEARS, AS "JUST A PRETTY FACE." IF WE CONTINUE TO DESTROY THIS HINTERLAND, WE WILL DESTROY OUR NUMBER ONE INDUSTRY, NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF EDITORIAL BLESSINGS WE ARE AFFORDED IN THE ONTARIO LAKELAND.
AS A LOCAL WRITER, TRUTH IS, I'M JUST A "LOCAL WRITER," AND DESPITE WHAT I HAVE BEEN REPORTING AND WRITING ABOUT FOR DECADES, IT DOESN'T MATTER A COUNTRY HOOT……AS COMPARED TO THOSE OF HIGHER ALTITUDE IN THE MEDIA. BUT YOU KNOW, I AM DELIGHTED THAT FINALLY, FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF THOSE WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE, (BUT WERE SADLY, ANYTHING BUT) MUSKOKA IS BEING PORTRAYED AS A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT. TRUTHFULLY, IT'S AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO LIVE.
I HAVE BEEN LABORING AWAY CONTENTLY, FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WRITING A SERIES OF LANDSCAPE-TYPE BLOGS, ENTITLED "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," THAT YOU CAN ACCESS BY CLICKING ONTO http://muskokaaswaldenpond.blogspot.com/
IT IS MY OWN LOVE-AFFAIR WITH THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. POSSIBLY YOU WILL ALREADY KNOW THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF MY COMMITMENT, TO DRAW ATTENTION TO ITS STRESSES……AS MY OWN SENSE OF OBLIGATION AND STEWARDSHIP DEMANDS. POSSIBLY YOU WILL FIND YOU HAVE SIMILAR INTERESTS IN CONSERVATION, AND AGREE AS WELL, MUSKOKA IS AN ENCHANTED, DYNAMIC PLACE, WE NEED TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE FOR THE SAKE OF US ALL.
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