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Harlan County tests its wings in nature-based tourism
by Pat Underwood

One of the "must-do" activities for tourists in Key West, Florida is to gather in Mallory Square each evening and applaud — literally, clap and cheer — the always-magnificent sunset. The ritual is not only fun for visitors, but also a great boon for local businesses and vendors, making the nightly event one of the least expensive examples of nature-based "economic development" ever implemented.

The Swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano and the Cranes returning to the Platte River in Nebraska are two more examples of what can happen when local communities pay attention to what they have that is truly special, and are smart about marketing the splendor of these sights to visitors.

Welcome home, Pelicans

While not yet sharing the awareness, attention and international status of the celebrations noted above, there has long been a quiet local commemoration of the return of the American White Pelicans to the state of Nebraska each spring at the Harlan County Reservoir.

Local residents don't literally stand at the lake-edge and applaud, of course, but when we see the elegant follow-the-leader flight-lines of giant White Pelicans arriving in late February or early March to splash down on the water and start their fascinating group-hunt for fish, we simply breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Winters are, let's face it, often long and hard in Nebraska, but as the days lengthen, a few holes start opening up on the frozen surface of Harlan Lake and quickly become "landing room only" for thousands — and within the ensuing weeks millions — of ducks, geese, seagulls and other migrating species. The hundreds of Bald and Golden Eagles that over-winter at the lake are also sometimes still in residence at this time.

It is the arrival of the White Pelicans, though, that enduringly lifts our hearts, as they indicate well and truly that spring is right around the corner. They have never been wrong, and they are handsome besides.

A fascinating species

The American White Pelican is one of North America's largest birds, weighing 10-20 pounds. They have wingspans of up to nine feet, and a mature adult's beak can be 13-14 inches long. The plumage is almost entirely white except the black wingtips visible during flight. Unlike Brown Pelicans, which dive for their prey, White Pelicans work together to herd fish into a circle and then chase them to each other.

Currently protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, American White Pelican populations have recovered significantly since the mid-20th century when environmental regulations came into effect, and they are considered to be stable or slightly increasing today. An estimated 100,000 or more adults exist in the wild.

Based in part on a request from Sandhill Crane migration promoters for the development of new nature-based attractions as supplemental activities for visiting crane watchers, the Harlan County community is now offering the public enhanced opportunities to view and celebrate the same spring spectacle the locals have long enjoyed — and hoping to bring some new tourist dollars into the community in the bargain.

Tourists welcome

The Harlan White Pelican Watch will run from March 1 to April 15. Brochures have been developed and distributed with maps indicating the many shoreline areas around the lake from which American White Pelicans can be easily observed.

In addition, a White Pelican Homecoming Celebration will be held from March 20-26, 2011, which will include a week-long art show and silent auction, a speaker series, the Alma Chamber of Commerce Spring Fling on March 25, and a "Welcome Home White Pelicans!" public reception on March 26, which will include the close of the silent art auction, live music, a giant sculpted Pelican Cake, and more. The eventful week will close with a Nebraska Wine Tasting at the Alma Country Club that same evening. Click here to see the full schedule in What’s Going On in Rural Nebraska.

How will it all work out in terms of increased visitation to Harlan County Lake? We don't have a clue. What we have learned, though, is that economic development requires a group of people willing to not only step outside and notice what is special about their communities, but to do the work necessary to capitalize on those amenities.

We also know that when the first White Pelicans arrived in 2011 — this year it was on Saturday, February 26 — phones around town started ringing with the news, conversations in local coffee shops turned from everyday burdens to extraordinary birds, Pelican-themed merchandise started appearing in local store windows, and the excitement of imminent spring was palpably present. We are, in a word, having fun.

See with new eyes

It might be argued that one of the most important aspects of developing tourist activities around nature-based attractions like the return of the White Pelicans could simply be as a reminder for people to stop for a moment and notice, celebrate, and give thanks for the natural beauties of their own community which might otherwise be taken for granted.

The writer Tennessee Williams, who became a regular visitor to Key West in the 1940s, is credited with being the first to actually stand on the beach and applaud the sunset. Key West is not, after all, altogether different from many local communities, where it sometimes takes opening our hearts and our communities to visitors for us to remember what is extraordinary in our own back yards.

Won't you join us?

Pat Underwood is a resident of Alma, Nebraska, where she does grant writing, fundraising and other development work as an independent consultant for government and private non-profit organizations and serves part time as Harlan County Tourism Director. She is a former resident of California, Hawaii, Guam, and Florida, where she graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Philosophy. She can be reached at 308-928-8992 or underwoodpat@ymail.com.

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