As gambling spreads in California, Reno plans to promote eco-tourism

Sunday, May 14, 2000 | 3:36 a.m.

They're mulling plans to create a whitewater park for kayakers and rafters on the Truckee River in downtown Reno and to make rafting a top tourist attraction on a 12-mile stretch of the river just west of here.

They also plan to step up efforts to bring more visitors here for skiing, golfing, fishing, hiking and mountain biking, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

"We've got to capitalize on the natural resources here," said Ferenc Szony, president and chief executive officer of the Sands Regency Casino and Hotel.

"Las Vegas has done it with manmade resources. Here it is right here in front of our face. We've got to popularize that."

Scott Kesler, co-owner of River Adventures and More, said the Truckee is a relatively untapped recreational resource and Reno can't afford to lose more business with the spread of gambling.

"They've got to start thinking about something to draw people in, and the river's a great draw," he told the Gazette-Journal.

Reno not only has the Truckee flowing through it, but the Sierra just to its west. The Truckee flows more than 90 miles east from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake, 30 miles northeast of Reno.

The Nevada Commission on Tourism is pushing the $634,000 whitewater park in the downtown casino area. A feasibility study for it is due out in June.

"We believe that this whitewater park would be an infusion of energy and it would provide a focus for the kind of active vitality that we need in downtown Reno," said commission spokeswoman Chris Chrystal.

"I think we've always had the beauty of the river ... but I think its time has finally come to get into the spotlight."

Tom Tait, the commission's executive director, agrees the Truckee is ripe for tapping as the region tries to expand its visitor appeal beyond gambling.

He said he thinks rafting on a relatively tame, but scenic 12-mile stretch of the river from Verdi to Reno can draw tourists.

"If people have an opportunity to do this, they will do this again and again and again," Tait said after rafting the stretch last week.

The Reno area can lure younger visitors and tap new discretionary income by stressing eco-tourism, Tait added. The average age of Reno visitors was 54 in 1999.

"We have got to reverse that (aging) trend ... if we're going to survive," Tait said.

Fifty percent of Reno's gambling revenue comes from California, and some industry analysts have predicted the expansion of Indian gambling there could result in a 21.6 percent decrease in revenue growth in the Reno area by 2004.

California's Indians are moving ahead with costly resort projects following an overwhelming statewide vote in March favoring the tribes' casino ventures.