Travel bureau discusses possible RV show for Green River

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The Emery County Travel Bureau met at their regular meeting in Green River.
Funding for the Candland Mountain and Huntington State Park Trail Systems were discussed. Mike McCandless, board chairman, explained the funding source for each project. There are funds available for upcoming projects this fall. Carter plans to have a biking video and bouldering video made and create an app for each of Emery County’s four State Parks.
Joshua Rowley from the Tamarisk was approved for the board member position from the east side of the county. The board approved funding requests for Maverik Adventure Gateways for $159 for advertising.
McCandless gave an update on film related projects. The National Geographic reality show was filmed on Cedar Mountain. They also filmed on the Muddy River the weekend before. Filming went well. The local support was great. The show will air in the fall. Another film that scouted our area for about two years just finished up in the area. There may be a full length, big budget Robert Duvall Film in the area this fall. They will be filming ranch scenes. The motion picture has pushed their date back again. McCandless has received phone calls from two other adventure films. The Utah Film Commission has sent a lot of films to McCandless to look for possible shooting locations.
The discussion continues with the different entities regarding the Goblin Valley Expansion. The board discussed benefits that would come with the expansion. Jonathan Hunt reported State Park use is up 9 percent from last year. Paddle board rentals also went really good this year.
Clint is working to GPS all trail head locations. Their goal is to have a map produced soon. Mark Williams continues to work on the Des Bee Dove Trail plan.
Kids from the Paleontology Camp spent quite a bit of time at both the Museum of the San Rafael and the John Wesley Powell Museum. It went well, they were very inviting. Carter suggested holding the Green River Travel Bureau meetings at the John Wesley Powell museum in 2015. The Mammoth display at the Museum of the San Rafael is about complete. They are waiting on the tusks.
Brian Christensen will be able to add an additional camera to the security system at the Buckhorn Information center. Signs will be added to the area letting visitors know the area is under surveillance.
The bureau discussed the Green River RV Show: McCandless would like to use part of the surplus fund balance to purchase a large tent to hold an RV show. The show would be geared toward the jeeps going to Moab each year around Easter/Spring break. The board discussed many different options and uses for the tent along with the revenue that could be generated by holding an RV show in Green River each year. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done on the project. The board would like to hold a show in 2016.
Tina Carter was able to pull up to date tax information from the website provided by Kevin from Sevier County. July’s TRT totals were up from last year. TRCC is up a little from last year. The budget is looking good for the remainder of the year. Travis Bacon, General Manager of the River Terrace was approved as the newest board member.
Film Related Projects: Mike McCandless received a request for another an episode of Naked and Afraid, to film in the county. There is also a documentary project to be filmed.
Aaron Farmer is the new park manager for Goblin Valley and Green River State Park. Mark Williams would like to see the State Parks place a large sign at
the turn to Goblin Valley. Currently there is just a small sign that is easy to miss. Keith Brady will talk to Aaron about installing a sign.
The Trail coming from Huntington Reservoir will be engineered shortly.
The literary event at the John Wesley Powell Museum went very well, there were about 40 participants.
Buckhorn Information Center: The edited panels need to be sent to the designer to have corrections made. After review of the corrections the final panels will be printed. Tourism Development and Marketing: Tina will create a rough draft travel guide, and gather printing costs. They discussed different possibilities to supply more specific information to visitors.
McCandless, Carter and a few other tourism directors had a meeting with the Utah Office of Tourism to discuss the problems with rural tourism. Most rural area’s do not have the infrastructure needed to support tourists brought in by the national parks. They’ve identified three counties, Emery County being one of them, as test markets to research infrastructure building, better communication and marketing for the rural communities.
There will be a meeting to meet with mayors, business and lodging property owners to discuss rural tourism.