It won’t be long now. As the days become longer and the sun beats down upon us, working to melt the frozen earth, I can’t help but be warmed inside as I anticipate another summer in the Mission Valley. I know it’s only March, and another big snowstorm wouldn’t be unheard of, but we’re on the up-swing now, and it’s about time.

Summers are great here: the lake, the mountains, green grass and lots of sunshine. No wonder the population of Polson bursts from June through August. It makes the long winters bearable for those who live here, and brings in new faces from near and far. Polson is a tourist town, but what is it that draws people here? Is it the scenery and natural resources? Its festivals, events? Its Western flair?

Last Wednesday, Dylan Boyle, Project Coordinator of the Crown of the Continent Geotourism Council, spoke to a packed house at the Polson Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon. He spoke of a relatively new classification of tourist: the geotourist. They’re your older, well-educated, culturally-aware “off the beaten-path-type” of tourist who has both time and money to spare and, when traveling, desires to fully experience a place before moving on.

It seemed to me that Polson, and other Mission Valley towns, would be the perfect candidate for a geotourist. But we have work to do, and everyone would have to get on board.

I’ve heard time-and-again that Polson will never be a “destination.” There’s a percentage of the community that feels Polson is only good enough to draw tourists passing through on their way to Glacier National Park. They may stop for gas, lunch, or even a night’s stay, but certainly not a week or more. I hear from those people that Polson’s no destination because “there’s nowhere to park,” “nowhere to put the boat in,” “nowhere to camp,” “nowhere for the kids to play.”

I just don’t buy that philosophy.

Maybe Polson has some room to grow in the parking and put-in departments. It’d be great to have a low-cost campsite closer to town. But we have great parks, both of the playground and skate variety. We have some pristine city beaches, unique shops, restaurants and bars. Why can’t this be a destination like Coeur d’Alene, Whitefish or Bigfork?

At the Polson Transportation Plan and Corridor Study public meeting last week, transportation engineer Jeff Key talked about an “alternate route.” He said he’d try not to use the word “bypass” because it has a negative connotation, but again I ask, why? What would be so bad about sending the big noisy trucks around the back and making the downtown area more inviting for families and geotourists who want to walk around and experience what this wonderful place has to offer?

The city, Tribes and the Polson business community have put so much effort into the beautification of downtown. We have a visitor-friendly Main Street now, renovated city docks with a platform and a fishing pier and a community pool on the way. For a relatively rural area, we have a vibrant entertainment sector with a number of outstanding venues nearby and the talent to boot. The Ronan Performing Arts Center is world-class. The Port Polson Players put on smash hit after smash hit. This is a great place to explore, but that pesky highway runs right through all the fun.

The contrary argument is that the passersby are who bring in the business, and maybe they do. I can certainly understand those property owners, farmers and ranchers who are unhappy about the possibility that a highway could traverse their land, and boy is it fun to pop over Polson Hill for an evening run along the peaceful canal trail, which is just outside of town.

I see those downsides to it too, but what if by resisting growth and resenting change, we are closing the door to the future?

Polson could be the next hot spot along the Crown of the Continent geotourist’s route. We’ve got a heck of a lot more to offer than a lot of other places that are clearly doing better in the tourist-department than us. So, why is that?

One thing we can all do right now to draw people to our area is visit crownofthecontinent.net. Check out what Dylan and his peers are doing to bring these high yielding, low-impact visitors to Western Montana. There is a spot to post local events, write about activities and share experiences that we’ve all had with future tourists.

Times are tough, but this is Montana, and we just survived one heck of a winter... if anyone can make it in this economy, it’s us.