Jeff Green | Jun 13, 2013

LOLTA using fish to hook big numbers (of tourists)

At a meeting of North Frontenac Council on May 10, Rachelle Hardesty, the General Manager of the Land O’Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA), stressed the same theme that formed the basis of her address to the LOLTA AGM in May.

By using traditional and social media, LOLTA is focussed on promoting the region as a prime fishing destination, and then broadening their message to include other outdoor recreational opportunities in the Land O’Lakes, such as camping, boating and hiking and cycling, in the hope that they will start to seep into the consciousness of the populations in centres such as Toronto and Ottawa.

When she came to LOLTA three years ago, Hardesty said she intended to make much more use of television-based marketing, and thanks to some of her efforts as well as seed money from local municipalities and Community Futures development corporations, that promise has been delivered. Fish TV, the Dimestore Fisherman, and Captured, are all cable TV based fishing shows that have featured the Land O’Lakes Region in 2013.

Hardesty told North Frontenac Council that the North Frontenac Parklands have been a major focus of all the marketing efforts that LOLTA has been undertaking this year.

Frontenac Parklands includes a large number of boat-access campsites on some of the major lakes on Crown Land in the southern portion of North Frontenac Township, as well as a smaller number of vehicle-access sites. The township uses an online booking system to reserve the sites for camping. According to Cory Klatt, the Recreation Co-ordinator for the townships, the Parklands have seen a steady increase in traffic over the past five years.

Hardesty told North Frontenac Council that they can expect a much more dramatic increase in 2014 after the programs have aired a number of times.

In fact, she urged Council to consider bumping up the number of vehicle access sites on Long Schooner and Fortune Lakes if possible.

“If we increase the number sites too much, don’t you think it might dilute the experience?” asked Councilor John Inglis during Rachelle Hardesty’s visit to North Frontenac Council on Monday.

“I’m not suggesting putting in 100 sites, just a few more. But that’s only a suggestion. What I do know is that when Long Schooner got mentioned on TV, the next day there were 100 emails about Long Schooner Lake. You have to remember that there is a new generation of people in cities who have never roasted a marshmallow, never sat around a camp fire. This is a new market we are looking at.”

Rachelle Hardesty also talked about the catch and release large and small mouth bass fishing tournament on Big Gull, Kashakamak, Sharbot, Desert and Lougborough Lakes that is planned for August 17. The original goal had been to sign up 500 participants but that number has been adjusted up to 1,000.

Dark Skies, which is an initiative that has been championed by North Frontenac Councilor Betty Hunter, will also be taken up by LOLTA in the coming year.

Senior of the Year nomination: Council was momentarily stumped when informed that although they had nominated two people to the Province of Ontario for consideration as Senior of the Year, a municipal council can only nominate one person. No one wanted to say one name and, in effect, snub the other person.

“Let’s nominate Edith Beaulieu in 2013 and Marie White in 2014,” said Mayor Bud Clayton, and Council agreed.

Consultations - what consultations?

North Frontenac Council has made repeated requests that a public meeting be organized by the Ontario and Federal Algonquin Land Claim negotiating teams in order to give local residents more information about lands in North Frontenac that are slated to be transferred and about the proposed Crotch Lake Provincial Park.

Brian Crane, the Chief negotiator for Ontario, has finally sent a letter of response to the township. But it was not the kind of response the council was looking for.

“Ontario, as well as the Algonquins and Canada, are receiving valuable public input on many aspects of the proposed agreement. This includes detailed local information about the proposal for a recommended natural environment provincial park at Crotch Lake,” Crain wrote.

“As a next step, … , Ontario, and our federal and Algonquin colleagues now intend to primarily focus on individual and small group discussions with respect to specific proposed settlement land selections … “I therefore suggest that a determination of whether a public meeting would be useful or productive should be deferred until the intensive consultation efforts in which we are presently engaged have taken place.”

“We don’t see these intensive efforts taking place in North Frontenac,” said Deputy Mayor Fred Perry.

“I’ve received 200 emails from all over the world about this, and no one said they have been contacted by Mr. Crane’s office,” said Mayor Clayton.

“I think we should respond to this, and ask them to tell us who they are conducting these intensive negotiations with,” said Councilor Gerry Martin.

The township will prepare a response to Brian Crane’s letter.