Post by Mark Patenaude on Mar 27, 2008 12:58:14 GMT -5
Sometime ago there was a debate about how the area should be marketed and I took the position that is should be viewed and marketed as a "destination". Well it turns out that my position was fairly accurate.
Outfitters coming soon to an area near you.
Adams in top 200 for hunters, anglers
By Ryan Hutton, North Adams Transcript
Article Launched: 03/27/2008 01:24:56 PM EDT
Thursday, March 27
ADAMS -- The town's efforts to be identified with the great outdoors and nature based activity may be paying off. Outdoor Life magazine has placed Adams on its list of the 200 best places for hunters and fishermen to call home.
"It's nice to be recognized," Joseph R. Dean Jr., chairman of the Selectmen, said Tuesday. "We've been trying to get recognized as a tourist and recreation point, and this will be a great help."
Ranked number 199, just above Yazoo City, Miss., the Mother Town was only one of three towns in the state to be placed on the list and only one of eight in New England. Plymouth placed 156, and Athol tied at number 185 with Natchitoches, La.
"In the whole Northeast, Adams did quite well," Town Administrator William Ketcham said. "In fact, Adams placed very well considering that not too many places east of the Mississippi made the list compared to Western states."
The magazine's quest to find towns with populations over 4,000 that offered "world-class hunting and fi-shing, easy access to public land and water and vibrant economies that remain affordable and hospitable" took into consideration sporting op-portunities and quality of life
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factors.
"It had to come sooner or later," Dean said. "Every place I travel, people ask where I'm from, and when I say Adams, they say 'where?' When I explain that it's in the Berkshires, they say 'Oh we know right where you are!' They know the Berkshires, and to be the only town in the county recognized, that's good news."
The equation took into account things like growth rate of the local economy, the unemployment rate, the degree of taxation, the time it takes to commute to work, the crime rate, housing prices, median household income and even the variety of cultural opportunities within easy driving distance.
Using a scale of 1-10, Outdoor Life took into account the fishing and hunting opportunities each town offers, the trophy quality of the sporting opportunities, proximity to public land, the restrictiveness of the gun laws and whether the fishing and hunting is good year-round -- all with a formula that favored the sporting activities 60/40 over the quality-of-life rankings.
"This certainly ties in with some of the goals the town has to promote itself as a place for outdoor recreation," Ketcham said. "As far as the scoring for hunting and fishing, we did quite well. Some of our strongest scores were accessibility to public land, year-round outdoor activity and being an all around good place to live."
Adams scored a 5 for access to public land, a 4.6 for year-round opportunities, 4's for huntable and fishable species, a 3 for trophy potential and only a 2 for gun laws. Both Plymouth and Athol had identical gun law rankings, but Plymouth had a 7 for fishable species, a 5 for trophy potential ad a 6 for public land access.
"This is a good sign that some of our efforts are paying off around here," Ketcham said. "We have to get to work on attracting L.L. Bean to the town now."
For the complete list of the Top 200 Towns for Hunters and Ang-lers, visit www.outdoorlife.com.
Outfitters coming soon to an area near you.
Adams in top 200 for hunters, anglers
By Ryan Hutton, North Adams Transcript
Article Launched: 03/27/2008 01:24:56 PM EDT
Thursday, March 27
ADAMS -- The town's efforts to be identified with the great outdoors and nature based activity may be paying off. Outdoor Life magazine has placed Adams on its list of the 200 best places for hunters and fishermen to call home.
"It's nice to be recognized," Joseph R. Dean Jr., chairman of the Selectmen, said Tuesday. "We've been trying to get recognized as a tourist and recreation point, and this will be a great help."
Ranked number 199, just above Yazoo City, Miss., the Mother Town was only one of three towns in the state to be placed on the list and only one of eight in New England. Plymouth placed 156, and Athol tied at number 185 with Natchitoches, La.
"In the whole Northeast, Adams did quite well," Town Administrator William Ketcham said. "In fact, Adams placed very well considering that not too many places east of the Mississippi made the list compared to Western states."
The magazine's quest to find towns with populations over 4,000 that offered "world-class hunting and fi-shing, easy access to public land and water and vibrant economies that remain affordable and hospitable" took into consideration sporting op-portunities and quality of life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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factors.
"It had to come sooner or later," Dean said. "Every place I travel, people ask where I'm from, and when I say Adams, they say 'where?' When I explain that it's in the Berkshires, they say 'Oh we know right where you are!' They know the Berkshires, and to be the only town in the county recognized, that's good news."
The equation took into account things like growth rate of the local economy, the unemployment rate, the degree of taxation, the time it takes to commute to work, the crime rate, housing prices, median household income and even the variety of cultural opportunities within easy driving distance.
Using a scale of 1-10, Outdoor Life took into account the fishing and hunting opportunities each town offers, the trophy quality of the sporting opportunities, proximity to public land, the restrictiveness of the gun laws and whether the fishing and hunting is good year-round -- all with a formula that favored the sporting activities 60/40 over the quality-of-life rankings.
"This certainly ties in with some of the goals the town has to promote itself as a place for outdoor recreation," Ketcham said. "As far as the scoring for hunting and fishing, we did quite well. Some of our strongest scores were accessibility to public land, year-round outdoor activity and being an all around good place to live."
Adams scored a 5 for access to public land, a 4.6 for year-round opportunities, 4's for huntable and fishable species, a 3 for trophy potential and only a 2 for gun laws. Both Plymouth and Athol had identical gun law rankings, but Plymouth had a 7 for fishable species, a 5 for trophy potential ad a 6 for public land access.
"This is a good sign that some of our efforts are paying off around here," Ketcham said. "We have to get to work on attracting L.L. Bean to the town now."
For the complete list of the Top 200 Towns for Hunters and Ang-lers, visit www.outdoorlife.com.
