Thoreau may have advocated protecting the Maine woods as a national preserve, but right now pretty much the only thing going in these parts are the paper companies whose mills have an avaricious appetite for wood pulp. Certainly they could be counted upon to associate self-preservation with steadfast opposition to any such proposal. The World Tourism Organization projects that heading into the millennium, tourism will become the planet's biggest industry. Ecotourism is a growing segment of this business. Ten years ago, adventure travel, a part of ecotourism, received about 10 percent of the market, a share that was said to be growing 30 percent a year.
Tourists seem to have split personalities.
Most may cling to their creature comforts, but still show interest in the natural environment. Each year, there are upwards of 300 million visits to our national parks. Tourists may want their nature accessible by auto, but still they want it. With fewer than 50,000 acres, Acadia , the only national park in the Northeast, is overwhelmed with more than three million summer visitors. Its carrying capacity is being exceeded.