Tourism, Recreation and Trail Impacts - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 141

natural environment by providing greener and cleaner access to the country-
side and suburbs. They also improve air quality and overall physical quality
of places because of the open space they create (Moore & Driver, 2005). In
the words of Iles and Wiele (1993: 26), rail-trails 'help mitigate water, air and
noise pollution' because they are more sustainable alternatives to car trans-
portation, they support the growth of plants and trees beside them, and they
provide a habitat for native wildlife (Hornby & Sheate, 2001; Moore &
Driver, 2005; Moore & Shafer, 2001).
A related benefit is the educational value of trails. Iles and Wiele (1993)
point to the existing and potential use of rail-trails to educate youth about
the need to protect the ecological and cultural environments. In general,
trails can in fact help promote historical understanding (Peterson, 1999) and
can be useful pedagogical tools for learning about biology, history, environ-
ment, art and geography.
There have been many cases where industrial waste areas, mine tailings
and brownfields were reinvigorated through the development of greenways
and urban trails (Villa, 2001). Two examples in the US are the Lawrence
Gateway and Merrimack Riverwalk in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and the
Riverfront Heritage Trail in Kansas City, Missouri (Amekudzi & Fomunung,
2004). Trails in general also support historic preservation, as the built environ-
ment along or adjacent to them is usually included in corridor protection
efforts because of their association with the trail (Gangewere, 1992; Moore
& Driver, 2005). For example, as mentioned in Chapter 2, the route to
Santiago de Compostela was a major impetus for the restoration of ancient
cathedrals and other important buildings along the Camino in Spain
(Gonzáles & Medina, 2003). In fact, the route was particularly instrumen-
tal in the gentrification and renewal of many cities and towns, for the
income earned by 'Camino' tourism, the global visibility the pilgrim path
brought to the region and the mounting pride among the local people com-
pelled the region to reconsider its conservation efforts and gear them
toward the pathway's cultural centeredness (Gonzáles & Medina, 2003).
Finally, trails, particularly rail-trails, are sometimes used as utility ease-
ments. Their physical characteristics are ideal for some public infrastructure
developments, such as power lines, water drainage, or microfiber installa-
tion. This is important because rail-trails can provide already open alterna-
tives to tearing up other natural landscapes or destroying historic buildings
and urban infrastructure to make way for utilities installation (Moore &
Driver, 2005).
Social impacts
Like all forms of tourism and recreation, route use can have serious reper-
cussions on the visitors themselves as well as on destination residents and
cultures. These impacts include, but are not limited to, crowdedness and