BAR HARBOR (AP) – Local and national tourism officials are bringing what they’re billing as the first national ecotourism conference to Mount Desert Island this September.

The planned conference would have significant implications for how this developing type of sustainable tourism can benefit both the state and national economy, said Costas Christ, executive director of Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

“This issue is of particular interest to Maine,” Christ said. “Tourism’s like fire. (If it’s) out of control it can burn your house down.”

Ecotourism, as defined by The International Ecotourism Society, is travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improve the well-being of local people. In Maine this concept means protecting the existing rural way of life as well as natural resources such as Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park, the Appalachian Trail corridor and other recreational areas, according to Christ.

The conference, scheduled for Sept. 14-16 in Bar Harbor, is expected to draw people from across the country and Canada, Christ said.

Similar conferences have been held in the United States, but they have focused on ecotourism opportunities outside the country, primarily in developing nations, said Martha Honey, executive director of The International Ecotourism Society. Hawaii and Alaska have developed ecotourism industries, she said, but much of the continental United States is just beginning to embrace the concept domestically.

“The United States is one of the biggest senders of ecotourists around the world,” she said. “People are beginning to take the concepts of ecotourism as they’ve experienced it overseas and apply them here.”

“Many people have said it’s long overdue,” Honey said. “It’s time to look at our own back yard.”

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-02-04-05 0907EST