The Appalachian and Ozark Regions of the United States have, in recent decades, been economically moving towards tourism and recreation. There are positive and negative aspects of this trend, including the negative effects that increased recreation and tourism have had on those regions’ environmental quality.
Since the 1960’s, there has been a steadily growing increase in the population of these regions of the United States, both in Appalachia and in the Ozarks, a trend that continues to this day, and is opposite the population decline that was occurring in these areas in the 1940’s and 50’s – this population increase is attributed to the fact that, as industry and agriculture don’t do so well here, this area is becoming known for its beautiful scenery and rustic nature, which motivates people to come here for recreational activities and tourist reasons.
These regions have always been quite beautiful to look at; the scenery is just splendid, to say the least, in the personal opinion of most people. Add to this the fact that numerous manmade lakes have been formed through the development of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Arkansas River Navigation System, as well as in other places, such as Lake of the Ozarks in the middle of the state of Missouri, which adds to the attraction of the area. People like to get away from the city, and its hustle and bustle, to relax quietly in a more rustic setting full of views that are enjoyable to look at, or go fishing, or get involved in water sports, among other things.
Besides the attraction of the beautiful scenery, and lakes, there has also been the development of recreational tourist centers, such as Branson, Missouri and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The huge draw of people to these entertainment-based towns has spurred on much tourist-related activities, such as theaters, amusement parks, hotels, restaurants, and the construction of those buildings housing those services, all which has motivated working people to come to the area.
Add to this the fact that there are historical places, such as Civil War battlefields, like Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, and Chickamouga And Chattanooga National Military Park in northern Georgia near Chattanooga, Tennessee, all of which cater to people who are trying to learn about our historical past, to learn more about our nation and its heritage.
Besides this, there has been different resorts that have been around for awhile, but have increased in popularity in more recent decades. These include Hot Springs, Arkansas and the related Hot Springs National Park, the Pocono area of eastern Pennsylvania near the Delaware Water Gap, and the Catskill Mountains in New York State, all within just a few hours of large metro areas for people to come to get away from the city.
Also, there are the numerous national and state parks that attract people, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southeast Missouri, which also attract people for recreational purposes and to relax.
If you add up all the places and things that can attract tourists for recreational purposes, entertainment, and relaxation, they add up to a lot of places. Adding up all the beautiful scenic places, the small towns, the artificial lakes, the military and other historical sites, the national and state parks, the resorts, and the entertainment hotspots, they add up to a great deal of motivation for people to come to the region, both to live and as tourists, which has helped to substantially improve the local economy of these regions, and has helped to pull people out of poverty. They can also add up to take a huge toll on the environment, if not carefully watched.
Among the environmental impacts that has happened in the region are the construction of modern highways to get people easily to those tourist, entertainment, and recreational locations to which they like to go. To build roads in hilly and mountainous terrain usually means cutting through mountains, cutting into mountains to create level surface for roads, filling in parts of valleys to have a road grade that isn’t too steep, sometimes digging tunnels to get through natural barriers, and hindering natural water drainage by filling in certain places to make roadways. Add to this the possible runoff from the roadways of oils and other fluids that drip from cars and trucks, as well as the fact that there tends to be garbage on the sides of the roads from people throwing their trash out their windows instead of in the waste can at the next gas stop, and you have even more of an environmental impact caused by roadways.
Building artificial lakes, also known as manmade reservoirs, can help to stop flooding of farmland during rainy seasons, but they can also hinder the natural migrations of fish who now can’t swim through a dam, and which can also increase the chances of catastrophe to people living below a dam if it ever breaks, like as happened in Johnstown, Pennsylvania over a century ago when a nearby dam broke. These dams also hinder the natural flow of sediments from moving downstream, as these sediments are being caught behind the dam wall, causing a buildup of those sediments.
There is also the fact that increasing the amount of people in the natural environment increases the risks that can happen to that natural environment due to the increased amount of people. Take the increased chance of forest fires that happens as more people decide to go camping, or grilling out near some woods (Henry David Thoreau, of all people, even though he is considered an early environmentalist, is said to have once accidentally sparked a forest fire while trying to heat up some soup while on a picnic in the woods!). There is the increased use of land, the oil runoff from automobiles into natural drainage basins that end up harming the rivers and streams, the increased amount of trash, the increased amount of quarries needed to get materials to make roadways and buildings, increased use of water, increased need to get rid of sewage, increased interference into natural habitat zones for wild animals, increased hindrance of ease of migration patterns for those same wild animals, as well as, it might be added, light pollution which hinders one’s ability to see the night sky and its magnificence. All of these can add up to a significant environmental impact, especially as not only the region’s population increases, but also as the amount of tourists flocking to the region increases.
