A story in The St. Ignace News' series bringing our readers fresh perspectives on the top issues facing the Straits area and the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

Just 28 miles from the Michigan border, Eagle River, Wisconsin, is a town that got its start as an early Indian settlement. With a history similar to St. Ignace, Mackinaw City, and Mackinac Island, the northern community prospered during the fur trading days, was devastated once the timber was harvested, and no longer has a railroad.

Today it is a thriving community with a growing population. There are no smokestacks on the skyline, no industry, but the area is flourishing with an economy based on tourism.

"Actually, we just finished the biggest tourism year in the history of Eagle River," said Conrad Heeg, executive director of the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center. "The Last couple of years we've done real well."

A weak economy, a strong marketing program, and year-around weekend events all have contributed to the increase in tourism there, he said. The increased tourism comes from families not taking more costly trips to Mexico, Disney World, or the Grand Canyon, he said. They are cutting back on the cost of their vacation and driving to Eagle River and its lake area.

"Quite honestly," said Mr. Heeg, "we've lost a few people who traditionally came up here because they've lost their job in the big city, but we've more than offset that by people coming up here the last couple of years since the economy has been bad.

"We're very pleased with the way things are going," he added.

Weekends Focus

on Outdoor Events Key to the area's success is a program of year-around, eventfilled

weekends that focus on outdoor activities. The events are supported

by a marketing effort, which the chamber turns over to the advertising agency Boelter and Lincoln. The Milwaukee based business has extensive experience in tourism marketing. Promotion of the area is done through magazines, newspapers, billboards, and radio stations. They advertise during Milwaukee Brewers games and fishing events.

The chamber advertises to draw travelers in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota, said Mr. Heeg, however, the primary target market is the Chicago area.

"For us, we're pretty much within a tank full of gasoline for any of the major cities in those states. They can get up here quite easily -- great expressways almost to Eagle River," he said.

The chamber markets to families who live at a distance far enough away that they would be likely to spend the night. The marketing efforts, said Mr. Heeg, have paid off, and most visitors do stay overnight.

"Our whole emphasis, quite honestly, is we do not advertise at all within 150 miles of Eagle River. The reason for that is we believe that people who travel over 150 miles are probably going to stay overnight. If they stay overnight, they contribute to the room tax."

The chamber's marketing budget is supported by room tax revenues. More than 400 business are members of the chamber and of those, 140 offer lodging.

"When you have 145 different lodging properties contributing room taxes, it's a substantial amount," he said, declining to be more specific. Chamber members operate about 2,500 rooms in the area.

Eagle River is not a big town, said Mr. Heeg. The landlocked town is only a couple of square miles. The population is approximately 1,400 residents, slightly more than half the 2,600 people living in St. Ignace.

The chamber draws its membership from tourist-based businesses outside the city limits, including hotels, bars, and restaurants that are built on the nearby lakes.

Eagle River is in northeastern Wisconsin in Vios County, a county that has 1,318 freshwater inland lakes. Nearby Oneida County has 1,029 lakes, some of which make up a chain of 28 connected lakes.

"The tourism here is phenomenal," he said. "It's our whole economy. We have stuff going on pretty much every weekend."

Those weekend events, he believes, also are a key factor in the area's increase in tourism. The events are held in the town and visitors stay at hotels in town and on the nearby lakes.

Snowmobile Trails

Are a Centerpiece in Efforts

Each January, Eagle River holds the World's Snowmobile Championship Derby. The snowmobile race takes place on a track designed specifically for the sport and draws 35,000 people from all over the world.

Mr. Heeg recalled a successful promotion from a few years ago, when four men from Bangor, Maine, rode their snowmobiles from their hometown to Eagle River. They attended the derby and then rode their sleds home. On their journey to Eagle River, they telephoned into the local radio station, giving a progress report of their trip. A similar excursion happened five years ago with a group of 13 snowmobilers who traveled by sled to the derby from Vancouver, British Columbia.

"They just want to ride the trails," he said. "It's pretty amazing in the snowbelt how the communities are hooked up with snowmobile trails. You can go just about anywhere in a normal winter with normal snow."

Also a boon for snowmobile enthusiasts, business are tied together with a trail network. In 1964, the community was even trademarked as the Snowmobile Capital of the World. More than 600 miles of snowmobile trails through forests, over lakes, and across private property leads visitors from lake to lake and business to business.

"That's why snowmobiling here is as good as it gets," he said.

Some of the snowmobile trails become hiking and bicycling trails in the summer, although not all, he said. About 200 miles worth of trails are on private land. The town has an agreement with private land owners to use their property in the winter.

In the summer, not all trails are used, out of a concern for disturbing the environment. When frozen, the ground is protected, he said. The trails usually open around December 15, after the area has received enough snow and the trails have been inspected.

"We're very, very much a green type of a vacation destination and we're very protective of our trails," he said.

Also in the winter, construction takes place of the town's ice castle. Area firefighters lead a group of volunteers who cut about 3,000 ice blocks from a nearby lake and then construct the castle in town.

In mid-February, 224 hockey teams will battle for a top spot in the Sixth Annual Labatt Blue USA Adult Pond Hockey Championships. The relatively new event adds to the area's enthusiasm for hockey, which also is home to the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame.

During the three-day event more than 400 hockey games will be played on 24 rinks laid out on some of the area's freshwater lakes.

During the summer, families and extended families vacation on the lakes. Boating and fishing are popular, especially musky fishing.

The downtown is beautiful, Mr. Heeg said, and shops focus on tourist interests, offering art, local items, and antiques. The town, he said, is designed to serve the people who visit the community.

In October, about 50,000 people attend the annual Cranberry Fest. The event includes a cranberry cook-off and an arts and craft show.

The chamber office is open seven days a week, said Mr. Heeg, except during the slower shoulder months of April and November, when it is only six days each week.

Mr. Heeg began visiting the area as a child with his parents. He loved the area, had a lifetime goal to live there, and in 1990, he moved to Eagle River.

"I've traveled the world extensively and the more I travel, the more I love Wisconsin," he said. "To me, my extended first cousins are my friends in Minnesota and my friends in Michigan. The upper one-third of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, as far as I'm concerned, is as good as it gets anywhere."