Much of what is profoundly American what people love about America has come from the Delta. The Lower Mississippi Delta is a vast and vital part of the American landscape. This is a land of converging cultures with a unique complexity and density of history, prehistory, and cultural expression. Often these cultures intermingled to form discreet, new cultural elements found only in the Delta.
Heritage tourism development, which seeks to expand and revitalize urban and rural economic development opportunities through the preservation, management, and utilization of natural, historic, cultural, and recreational resources, presents one opportunity for achieving economic gain in the Delta.
Volume I contains background information on the study area, legislative mandates, concepts, and management alternatives for conserving, managing, and using the heritage resources of the Delta. This second volume contains cultural and historical, natural, recreational, and economic overviews of the Delta and an analysis on more than 2, resources that are now being preserved and used, or may offer opportunities for the future, to attract visitors to the Delta.
The descriptions and analysis contained in the tables in the appendix form a database of information to guide those interested in developing heritage tourism initiatives in the Delta. Although the resource tables may seem all inclusive, they are not a cotnplete listing of all the cultural, natural, or historic resources of the Delta.
Rather they represent a cross-section of the heritage resources found in this diverse and richly textured region. Cooperative efforts between local residents, businesses, and governments will be needed to achieve the full potential of heritage tourism opportunities illustrated by these diverse resources and to ensure the inclusion of all interested parties and sites.
