Green Notes: Donation Boosts Niagara Escarpment Geotourism Program

The Niagara Escarpment Resource Network (NERN) recently received a $50,000 grant from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund to advance its vision of establishing a formal geotourism program along Wisconsin’s 200-plus-mile-long Niagara Escarpment corridor. The escarpment stretches from New York through Niagara Falls (where it got its name) and defines the geography of Door County.

The funding will assist NERN in launching and sustaining the WI LEDGE Geotourism Program as a resource for travel, natural-area, recreation and cultural information. In particular, it will enable NERN to engage with professional geotourism expert Susan Kennedy to build the program and create a sustainable vision for its execution. 

“Our WI LEDGE Geotourism Program will promote events and experiences that educate local residents and visitors alike about the natural and cultural features of Wisconsin’s Niagara Escarpment, which is also known as ‘The Ledge’ by many in the state,” Kennedy said. “Building that local connection is vital, as this international geologic feature is actually part of a grander, globally significant, 1,000-plus-mile-long ‘Great Arc’ that traverses over 230 miles of northeast Wisconsin into upper Michigan and Ontario, Canada, and spills out as Niagara Falls and beyond in New York state.”