Angler’s Journal for 10/05/2008

Copyright 2008, Used by permission

By John W. Corrigan

Fishing may not be the last resort for Bethel, Maine, but it is emerging as an important element of a diverse economy.

A two-fly contest and drift-boat championship described here last week were just the latest events in a long-running effort to capitalize on a newly spruced up river flowing through some of the most beautiful country in the East. The sponsor was the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance, a coalition of local fishermen and businesses.

Isolated towns in the high country of inland New England must find cash in one of two ways: using the region’s natural resources to manufacture goods, or drawing visitors willing to spend money for recreational activities.

Bethel lies between two areas that took the manufacturing route: Berlin and Gorham here in the Granite State, and Rumford and Mexico downstream on the Androscoggin River.

A decaying dowel mill in West Bethel reflects how tough it can be to complete in the manufacturing economy.

I mentioned in last week’s column that downtown Bethel presents an upscale look. The obvious factor that sets it apart from other communities in the area is Gould Academy, the private prep school.

Beyond that, the town takes advantage of its mountainous location. It’s the home of the Sunday River ski area.

“Bethel if very lucky,” said Wende Gray, who handles public relations and marketing for the angler’s organization. “We have a very diverse economy here.”

The same conditions that are forcing its upstream neighbors to take a hard and painful look at economic transition have created new opportunity for Bethel. For the past several years, the river has been running free of the overload of both industrial waste and municipal sewage.

That means the Androscoggin has recovered much of its potential as a trout fishery. Downstream from Gorham, the river is recognized as one of the few places where rainbow trout will spawn naturally. Imported from the West Coast, most rainbows in New England waters are stocked.

Obviously, fishing can’t sustain the number of jobs once supported by the paper mills and other wood-based manufacturers. The resort economy favors entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Rocky Freda runs Sun Valley Sports and Guide Service. He’s obviously a hands-on kind of owner. He said he guided about 100 days this season.

He’s working in partnership with Sunday River to offer both fishing schools and guide service. His plans for the near future include ATV tours at the ski resort and setting up a range for shooting clays.

Scott Stone of Schiavi Home Builders put his carpentry skills to use in building his drift boat five years ago. One of the founders of the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance, he reported building about 80 homes a year in the region.

Asked about the role of fishing in local economic development, he replied, “Our culture is very outdoor active. I don’t have to tell you how beautiful the Bethel area is. With the [ski] resort here, there is a tremendous amount of activity in the wintertime and not quits so much in the summer. We have a lot of things to do here in the summer. The river is a perfect example of that. The fishing is outstanding. The wildlife – yesterday I saw a bald eagle and a moose. People travel for hours in a plane to get to do that. We have it right here in our back yard.”

Gray said Bethel is the only in Maine where fishing license sales have increased recently.

Local efforts to promote the fishery include a web site, upperandro.com, and map of fishing access areas along the river. The alliance also organized its first river cleanup this year, organizing high school students to remove 2,000 pounds for trash from the riverbank.

Any kind of economic development can sound good in areas where a bad snow season or high water can drive customers away. I did hear a few comments that made me hope that Bethel can avoid the mistakes of other resort areas.

Alliance members would like to see more fish stocked in the river to meet increased angler demand. On the western side of the state line, conservationists have been working for years to support wild fisheries.

Gray mentioned that more houses are being built near the river instead of closer to Sunday River. Many once-polluted New England rivers have little shoreline development because the water was once so foul. Too much development can kill the very features that attract traveling anglers.

Could Bethel be a model for New Hampshire communities? Obviously, fishing-related businesses are scattered around the state. Pittsburg is the only community I can think of that has its local brand tied so closely to fishing, although Errol is similar on a smaller scale.

The same company that now owns Sunday River also runs Loon Mountain in Lincoln, another town that has seen the transition from paper to tourism. It would be interesting to see if fishing in its cold, clear waters could spur the mountain economy without hoards of anglers trampling the streams and condos dominating the views.

We need to be careful about what we wish for.

(John Corrigan can be reached at corrigannh@verizon.net)