Indigenous Peoples Week Celebrates Indigenous Tourism

By Ron Mader/Planeta.com 

Photo: Charlie Johnston

Planeta.com, Nutti Sámi Siida, Guurrbi Tours, TIME Unlimited, and Nevada Magazine co-host Indigenous Peoples Week, August 6-12, the second annual celebration of social media storytelling about indigenous peoples and tourism around the world.

This online "unconference" is free, and everyone's invited. The objective is two-fold: to raise awareness of indigenous tourism options around the world and improve digital literacy skills among indigenous tourism providers themselves.

Our circle of conversation includes indigenous and non-indigenous peoples around the world. Complete details are available online at Planeta Wiki.

Be Engaged: How to Participate

Learn social media by using it — blogs, Delicious, Facebook, Flickr, Foodspotting, Foursquare, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, Slideshare, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia — to learn and share info about indigenous culture.

1. Delicious: Follow the Indigenous Peoples Week Stack, and suggest a link.
2. Facebook: Introduce yourself or ask a question on the event page.
3. Flickr: Create an account, and upload a few photos of your work. There are a
   number of relevant groups. One of our favorites is the World Crafts Group, and another is the World Parks Group.
4. Foodspotting: Please share photos of indigenous foods available for visitors.
5. Slideshare: Favorite the overview presentation, and seek out or create a new presentation about indigenous culture.
6. Twitter: Tweet about indigenous culture, and please tweet about the event. Use the hashtag #ipw2012.
7. YouTube: Videos, please! Record your own video, and introduce yourself and your interest in indigenous tourism. You can also curate a playlist to document indigenous culture and traditional knowledge. Example here.
8. Wikipedia: Read or edit information about indigenous culture.

Nevada Magazine announces 2012 Best of Nevada winners

Nevada Magazine’s July/August 2012 edition, which reveals the winners of the publication’s 15th annual Best of Nevada readers’ survey, is on newsstands now. From Brewery to Wedding Venue, the annual listing includes 18 categories. In most cases, the categories are divided into North, South, and Rural Nevada, giving tourists plenty of statewide vacation ideas.

Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno is a five-category winner, voted Best Casino, Hotel, Nightclub, Spa, and Wedding Venue in Northern Nevada. David Walley’s Resort Hot Springs & Spa won two categories: Best Spa and Wedding Venue in Rural Nevada. The Best of Nevada food-and-drink categories (Brewery, Buffet, and Restaurant) are covered extensively in the magazine’s “Cravings” department, highlighted by Reno’s Cactus Creek Prime Steakhouse, which won Best Restaurant in Northern Nevada for the third year in a row.

Red Rock Casino Resort Spa is the only two-category winner in the Southern Nevada discipline, earning Best Casino and Spa honors. Tropicana Laughlin won Best Restaurant and Wedding Venue in Rural Nevada. The recently opened Mob Museum won Southern Nevada’s Best Museum category in its first year of eligibility, and Tonopah’s Central Nevada Museum won the Rural Museum category for the third consecutive year.

A complete list of winners can be found at nevadamagazine.com. To see past Best of Nevada winners, click here.

July/August 2012 issue

Best of Nevada winners Nevada Northern Railway in Ely (Best Place to Take the Kids; Rural) and Valley of Fire State Park (Best State Park; South) also were honored with the distinction of being named one of the state’s six treasures in a recent Nevada Commission on Tourism campaign called Discover Your Nevada. Like Best of Nevada, the treasures—one from each of the state’s six “territories”—were determined by public vote.

Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park (Minden), Goldwell Open Air Museum (near Rhyolite), Nevada Northern Railway (Ely), Pyramid Lake (Indian Reservation), The Star Bar & Dining Room (Elko), and Valley of Fire State Park are the six treasures and the subjects of the July/August issue’s cover story, which also discusses how Governor Brian Sandoval and Lieutenant Governor Brian K. Krolicki have taken active roles in promoting intrastate travel.

Also in the July/August issue are stories about renovations at Las Vegas’ original resort—Golden Gate Hotel & Casino—sister bed and breakfasts in Alamo, a cozy B&B in Kingston, and a history story about the July 18, 1912 flood that wiped the northwestern Nevada mining town of Mazuma off the map.

Northern Nevada freeway nears completion

Looking southwest toward the Galena Creek Bridge, a centerpiece of the soon-to-open U.S. Highway 395/Interstate 580 freeway extension.

BY ADAM ROBERTSON

Anyone driving between Reno and Carson City has seen it—a new stretch of concrete and asphalt winding through the hills north and west of Washoe and Pleasant Valleys; and soon, they will finally be allowed to drive on it.

On Saturday, July 28, the Nevada Department of Transportation will host an event during which walkers, runners, and bicyclists will be allowed to travel the 8.5 miles of the U.S. Highway 395/Interstate 580 freeway extension running from State Route 431 (Mount Rose Highway), in Reno, to the Bowers Mansion Interchange in Washoe Valley. This will be the first and only time pedestrians and cyclists are allowed on the new freeway after it officially opens to traffic in late July or early August.

The event will kick off with a fun run in the northbound lanes at 7 a.m., and music and vendors will line the route. From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the southbound lanes will be opened to vehicles. NDOT is working with the Governor’s office to schedule a ribbon-cutting event.   

The new freeway uses nine bridges to span the canyons through the hills, including the Galena Creek Bridge, the longest concrete cathedral arch bridge in the world. At 300 feet above the canyon floor, it was the most perilous part of the project, as high winds presented myriad challenges to construction crews.

Composed of three interlocking decks, the NDOT-designed bridge is built to the latest standards and specifications. Built with an eye for aesthetics, the new freeway is meant to blend with the natural landscape and not be an eyesore for Pleasant Valley residents. Steps have also been taken to return the land to its natural state after construction.

More information about the extension project can be found on NDOT’s website freewayextension.com.

Photos by Charlie Johnston

Nevada Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Scott Magruder points to Pleasant Valley, between Reno and Carson City, during a June 20 tour.