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NORTHEAST WASHINGTON
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 Ron Carpenter
Outdoor Program Staff Supervisor
Spokane Parks and Recreation Department
Ask your downtown Spokane hotel concierge to book a kayaking and wildlife-watching tour for you and the response may be: "Sure, your guide will meet you on the river bank – right around the corner." Ron Carpenter guides more than 70 kayaking and canoe tours in the Spokane area each year, many filled with tourists and visiting convention attendees. He also assists with cycling tours, snowshoe hikes, Nordic ski excursions and - in eight years with the nation's second-largest parks and recreation system – serves as a trusted ambassador of the city's tourism brand, Near Nature, Near Perfect.
What will a visitor see and do on a Spokane River kayak or canoe trip?
They'll have the chance to see various wildlife - osprey, great blue herons and beavers. We even have moose encounters once in a while. We're working to do more tours of downtown, tours through the center of the city. We have a kayaking tour that finishes with a Thai dinner and we're planning to add a tour that ends at one of Spokane's favorite pizza places.
How many of your customers are tourists and how do they book your tours?
Probably about 40 percent. They hear about us through local outfitters and outdoor retail stores such as Mt. Gear, Mountain Goat and REI. Hotels and the Spokane Convention & Visitors Bureau also help promote and introduce visitors to our program. They usually sign up through a group contract. We've hosted more conventioneers in the past two years but we also get individuals. We've met them at the Davenport and other hotels and shuttle them, depending on the type of tour they book. But, we can meet them at the starting point of the tour if they like.
Which tours are most popular?
White water [rafting] and our sit-on-top kayaks are the most popular during hot weather. So is cycling on the Centennial Trail. In winter, snowshoeing and Nordic skiing at Mt. Spokane is only 45 minutes away.
What do outdoor recreation novices learn when they take one of your tours?
There's an educational aspect to what we do. We look for guides with knowledge about flora and fauna. People love learning about the landscape. For example, we tell them about the Ice Age Floods when glacial lake Missoula melted and flooded thousands of years ago, which carved out this whole area, and the Spokane Rathdrum Aquifer which is a huge underground river that supplies pristine drinking water to the people of our area and beyond. Playing and recreating in nature, a lot of folks don't realize how vital and sensitive the landscape is. We ask them to follow rules [while on the tours] and we educate them. No feet-dragging on the Little Spokane river bed. Pack it in pack, it out. No littering. Respect the environment.
How did you get into the outdoors?
As a kid, my dad signed me up for Boy Scouts to keep me out of trouble. I pursued an Outdoor Recreation Degree at Eastern Washington University. I wanted to stay in Spokane to build my resume and stay close to help out my family – and because Spokane had plenty of outdoor activities within minutes of town. So, I did an internship here at Spokane Parks & Recreation, which led to this job.
Why does tourism matter in Spokane?
As I started working for Parks, I started learning about visitors. It opened my eyes. Lots of folks who are coming here to enjoy white water rivers, Hoopfest, Bloomsday and other festivals also spend money on lodging, food and other activities. After a day of cycling or canoeing, visitors look forward to a nice meal, they stay in a hotel or even go for a massage. Tourism is economic development. It keeps the local economy healthy.
Why does tourism matter to you personally?
Visitors and new residents to the area help me keep my job. It's also very satisfying to introduce people to the outdoors who didn't know anything about it.
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