Commercial Development in the Red River Gorge will Destroy its Natural Beauty
On a summer’s night in the Red River Gorge, I came upon a whippoorwill even though these magnificent creatures are seldom seen by humans. I reached out to stroke the downy feathers and the nightjar disappeared into the quiet folds of darkness. When we seek to own or tame wilderness it ceases to exist.
The future of the wilderness in the Gorge is being threatened. In this stunning landscape of arches and waterfalls, a contract for a 170-room destination resort is set to be signed any day. Though a majority stands against the project, they are given little to no say over how their tax funds are spent.
Seven years ago, behind closed doors, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce commissioned a study on the viability of tourism generators as an economic solution to Eastern Kentucky’s “coal collapse.” Documents from the American Multinational Engineering Firm (AECOM) completed in 2013 assumed that “a modern well-planned Gatlinburg” would be the solution to Eastern Kentucky’s economic disparity. Proposals won a million dollars in grant funding. In January of 2020, the Red River Gorge Economic Development (RRED) invested $700,000 of those grants into development plans. Those master plans anticipate a $135 million resort for the area, with an estimated $50 million to be covered by public dollars.
A survey conducted by Red River Gorge United shows that 69.9 % of respondents are against a large scale resort. Many see the red flags which threaten the local economy, community, and environmental integrity of the place. Yet officials are not listening.
The project promises to bring three-hundred jobs to the area. Providing meaningful avenues of income for residents is a noteworthy endeavor, but many jobs might be lost by such a development.
Studies show that eighty percent of visitors come for the peaceful atmosphere the area offers. If investors successfully attract the desired high-dollar visitors the area will suffer the loss of lower to mid-range adventure visitors who value experience over commercialization. If the project is unsuccessful in attracting high dollar clients, officials must lower room rates to market value in order to pay off debts and escape bankruptcy. Such competition will push small businesses out of the area; those once sustainable jobs will disappear.
It is doubtful whether these advertised jobs will even be available to locals. A report published in late July 2020 states, “The resort would likely need to construct workforce housing for employees on a nearby property.” This suggests that such “workforce” may be brought from elsewhere.
"We're all in this together," Elmer Whitaker, of Whitaker Bank told the Lexington Herald-Leader concerning the project. He's dead on. Bank owners and high-dollar investors such as Whitaker will suck away the profit, while the community and those who once loved the area will foot the losses.
Glacier National Park gets just over three million visitors a year. Parking lots are full before dawn, and traffic is bumper to bumper in high season. The Red River Gorge is more than twenty-three times smaller in landmass. There's no way it could sustainably host a similar number of tourists. The Gorge is a fragile ecosystem where roads are already falling into the river, graffiti covers sandstone walls, and rock carvings litter arches and overlooks. Trash is found even in the most remote areas.
In the 1970s, citizens successfully resisted the proposed dam for the Gorge; now, it is our turn to carry on the torch. We can resist plans for unchecked commercialism by learning more about the ecosystem and how this plan will forever affect it, by speaking out on the issue in our own communities, and by becoming involved with Red River Gorge United efforts to balance the needs of local community, ecology, and visitor experience.
We must work together carefully and diligently to nurture these gifts so that our children might also hear the whippoorwill's song there.