For far too long, the government of Ashe County, NC, has put the needs of outside interests before their own people. This needs to change. It places Ashe among the other regions of Western North Carolina who have fallen for the siren song of tourist economies. The individuals who line their pockets from this process will often not even acknowledge what is happening, and how it affects the everyday residents of Ashe.

Author David Joy, of Jackson County, NC, recently tweeted: "Tourism and the resulting development and gentrification might not be nearly as ugly as clearcutting timber or strip mining coal, but it’s equally extractive of both the land and the people. Don’t let the pretty pictures in magazines convince you otherwise."

Ashe is far from the first place to be "discovered," and it definitely won't be the last, but the story is always the same. When an area favors an unhealthy amount of tourism, a select group of people receive short-term benefits. These are eventually outweighed by factors like a major increase in the cost of living, environmental damage, and lack of economic diversity. If it gets too bad, the struggling middle-class and those in poverty are eventually all but snuffed out.

There is no easy solution to fix Ashe's economic disparity, but one thing is certain: Tourism is not our savior. And it may be our downfall. The first step to solving a problem is admitting there is a problem, and while the average Ashe County resident has benefited from increased tourism in some way, other solutions must be brought to the table. The success is temporary, and Ashe has to be ready to look for alternatives.

To the commissioners:

Please Recognize Tourism as an Extractive Industry.