Community Involvement
Articles
“Celebrate Our Friends: Partners Help Byways Succeed,”
America’s Byways Resource Center; Vistas,
January/February 2005
Community Involvement: Celebrate Our Friends
Friends. Supporters. Partners. There are many words used to describe those individuals or organizations who support your goals as you complete projects and realize visions. At the America’s Byways Resource Center, we teach byway and community leaders the value of quality partnerships and the process of finding, securing and nurturing partners. We have prepared lists of potential partners and groups to involve, and we have showed you how to keep supporters.
At the same time, you’ve heard us talk about the National Scenic Byways Program partners. But do you know who they are and what they do? And, if partners are valuable for a byway organization, what role do they play?
In The Beginning
Years before Congress passed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), Federal agencies and private organizations were interested in byways. The USDA Forest Service initiated a byways program in 1988. Similarly, the American Automobile Association (AAA) started a program to identify scenic routes for travelers in 1979. More recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge Roads Program was authorized with the passage of TEA-21 in June 1998, and numerous States and regions identified routes of local value.
As interest in recreational driving grew, so did interest in developing a national scenic byways program. Several organizations were instrumental in organizing initiatives and calling attention to a potential byways program. With the passage of ISTEA in June 1992, Congress directed the Federal Highway Administration to establish a National Scenic Byways Advisory Committee to assist the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in developing a National Scenic Byways Program. The Secretary appointed a 17-member committee that included representatives from Federal agencies, local and State governments and interest groups. Several of those groups continue to be interested in the Program today.
Old Friends
The American Recreation Coalition (ARC) has been a champion of the byway program since its inception. Derrick Crandall, President, still recalls a time when the National Scenic Byways Program was yet to become a reality. “[The President’s Commission on American Outdoors] knew that something needed to be done. Driving for pleasure has always ranked near the top of the nation’s recreation activities - and [we] developed the idea of identifying, protecting and enhancing existing routes with stories to share…there are many of us who are mighty pleased to have played a role in [establishing the program].”
Scenic America may have a new president, but it is not new to the byway program. Consider the thoughts of Kevin Fry, President of Scenic America. “A recent result of the long-standing relationship between Scenic America and the National Scenic Byways Program is the publication that we collaborated on with the America’s Byways Resource Center. Conserving Our Treasured Places: Managing Visual Quality on Scenic Byways is receiving accolades from the byway community, proving the partnership to be a beneficial one and reinforcing the important role scenic conservation plays in protecting the nation’s most precious natural and cultural resources.”
Another National Scenic Byways Program partner, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, made possible From Milestone to Mile-Markers: Understanding Historic Roads, an earlier and equally successful publication for the byway community.
The National Scenic Byways Program made friends with the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 2000 with the development of The Road Beckons project. AASHTO staff, the America’s Byways Resource Center, FHWA and representatives from national organizations worked together to identify and honor Best Practices across the program. At the National Scenic Byways Conference in 2001 and 2003, AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley presented awards to byways and States across the country. Click here to read about the 2003 and 2001 Best Practices for Byways projects.
New Friends
Last year, Mobil Travel Guide published four travel guides for America’s Byways®, with books covering the Midwest, Mountain Region, West Coast and the All-American Roads. The unique aspect of this partnership is that it allowed byway leaders to promote their byways and areas, as well as profit financially from the partnership. Mobil Travel Guide provided copies to byway leaders at cost (50% off the retail price), and then offered a 15% commission on the full retail price for all orders that the byways recruited. This exciting opportunity allowed byways to earn money to support their byway organizations.
For the past several years the National Scenic Byways Program has worked closely with the Travel Industry Association of America, a Washington, D.C.-based, nonprofit organization that represents the U.S. travel industry by promoting and facilitating travel to and within the United States. TIA’s 2003 See America’s Byways campaign promoted the byways to the travel trade industry and to consumers. In 2004, TIA included America’s Byways in the USA Today insert on fall foliage. In addition, byways will be included in TIA’s See America’s Treasure Hunt Game and Sweepstakes in 2005, which is designed to pique the public’s interest by challenging their knowledge of unique U.S. travel destinations. These new partnerships allow America’s Byways to extend far beyond where they have ever reached before.
Our Governmental Partners
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “America’s Byways provide access to some of the most scenic wildlife habitat in the world, national wildlife refuges along some of the most scenic drives in the world. The byways program, combined with the Refuge Roads Program, gives the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service access to and a means to support some of the grassroots groups working to protect scenic landscapes for the good of both the human and wildlife communities.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been a strong supporter of the program, as well as a consistent and top supporter of the biennial National Scenic Byways Conference. Other partners at the Federal land management level include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and USDA Forest Service. In fact, the America’s Byways Resource Center, FHWA and the Forest Service have housed a shared position at the Resource Center in Duluth, Minnesota. While the position is currently vacant, it will be filled in the near future.
The Importance of Partnerships
We’ve told you why the National Scenic Byways Program partners are invaluable, but what about individual byway partnerships? Those partnerships are important for the same reasons - because there is strength in numbers. Pooled resources can often accomplish so much more, and often on a grander scale. Here are just some of the benefits of partnerships:
- Partners can bring new resources to the table through their knowledge of a particular area, expertise, personal commitment and access to public or private funding sources.
- Partners can increase credibility either for the project or for the organization. For example, if a little-known organization partners with a well-established organization, it can positively impact the lesser-known group’s image.
- Partners can help create a unified voice. If a project is likely to face opposition, that’s when you need your partners the most!
- Partners can provide cost sharing for specific projects. If a project in mutually beneficial to both parties, costs can be shared or the scope of the project could be increased.
- Partners can provide “in-kind” services to help otherwise expensive projects become a reality. Perhaps they provide services “in-house” that your organization would gave to outsource.
But most importantly, remember that the partnership must be mutually beneficial, and never take your partner for granted.
A Look to the Future
The National Scenic Byways Program wouldn’t be where it is today without its partners. Our partners look out for the Program and bring new ideas, perspectives and opportunities to the table. For a current list of National Scenic Byways Program partners, please visit http://www.bywaysonline.org/program/partners/. We look forward to all the successes these partnerships can bring in the future, as we all work together toward the same goals.
Partnerships lead to possibilities! Find ways that your byway organization can find success through partnering.