America's Byways®
Bulletin

February 2007 / Vol. 4 No. 1

WHAT'S NEW

Notes about 2007 National Scenic Byways Program Applications

Here are some key points from the last State Byway Coordinator call:

• Grants.gov is a Federal government-wide E-Gov initiative that all Federal agencies are required to use.
• DUNS and CCR.gov registration is a one-time event required for using Grants.gov.
• We encourage applicants to place priority on filling out the bywaysonline.org application while simultaneously registering for their DUNS number and with CCR.gov as well as completing and submitting the SF-424 on Grants.gov.
• Applications are due to FHWA division offices by March 19th. Please check with your State Byway Coordinator for your state's specific deadlines.

Grants.gov Tips

With our transition to the Grants.gov website for 2007, we realize that the process can be very frustrating. While we at FHWA cannot change Grants.gov, we have compiled a list of phone numbers and/or email addresses for DUNS, CCR and Grants.gov to help you during the registration process:

For the DUNS registration process, there is an FAQ page and an email address for support, govt@dnb.com. To contact them by phone, call 1-866-705-5711, Monday - Friday 7 AM to 8 PM CST.

For help with the CCR process, you may call 1-888-227-2423, or submit your questions through this email form at the CCR.gov site. In her search for answers to some of your questions, Jessica, our Byways Web Specialist, has contacted CCR using this form, and she has received replies within the same day.

Grants.gov support can be contacted via email at support@grants.gov, or by phone at 1-800-518-4726. The Contact Center hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 7 AM to 9 PM, EST and are closed on Federal Holidays. When contacting Grants.gov, the following information will help expedite your inquiry:

• Funding Opportunity Number (FON) - FHWA-2007-BYWAYS
• Name of Agency You Are Applying To - Federal Highway Administration
• Specific Area of Concern

If you are having trouble with SIC or NAICS codes, please click here for more information.

For help with the SF-424 form, please refer to http://www.bywaysonline.org/grants for a list of documents to guide you as you are filling out this form.

GREAT IDEAS

2006 Ends with a Success for Redburn Ranch!

Durango, CO — Ken Francis, San Juan Skyway Byway leader, sent along this photo of the Redburn Ranch that was placed in a conservation easement the last working day of 2006! It is 1 of 4 working ranches along the San Juan Skyway the Montezuma Land Conservancy partners have conserved this last year. Contact Ken to find out more about this great project at francis_k@fortlewis.edu.

Illinois plans for the Lincoln Buy-Way Yard Sale

DeKalb, IL — Kay Shelton, State Director, Illinois Lincoln Highway Association, writes: The Ohio Chapter began the first state-wide Yard Sale in 2005, and Indiana joined for 2006. Illinois plans on joining for 2007. By doing so, that adds another 179 miles for a total of 581, surpassing the "World's Longest." Illinois is trying to engage local contacts along the route. Ohio has advertising materials that homeowners can buy to mark their yard sale.

Also, let us all give a big byway welcome to LHA's new Executive Director Dr. David L. Hay of LaPorte, Indiana.

Converting "Lookers" to Solid Visitors

Bonners Ferry, ID — Carol Graham, International Selkirk Loop, is currently finalizing the results of a Traveler Survey and Stakeholder/Member Survey. She reports: We surveyed about 2500 people and captured their emails and addresses from Jan — mid-Oct 06. We got a better than 10% response rate. Preliminarily it looks like for every dollar spent on advertising, we're getting a net return of $21 to $42 in economic impact.

More preliminary results:

• 88% of visitors said the Travel Guide influenced their decision to come.
• More than 1-in-4 people who requested information about the Loop actually visited after they received the information.
• 4.7 out of 5 people planned their trip using the internet.
• Nearly half had never come to the area before.
• Only 1/3 of visitors were planning to come before they got the info.
• 1/3 stayed longer because of information received.
• Average stay was 3.6 days, although 50% of travelers stayed for longer than 4 days.
• 46% of Visitors said they are very likely to return.
• 86% stayed in a Hotel/Motel/Resort/Bed & Breakfast on their visit.
• On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the most satisfied) 4.34 was the average satisfaction — people enjoyed their trip enough that they are planning to come back.

So you see, our message and fulfillment piece are converting lookers to solid visitors who are staying in the region for their entire vacation. Final figures to follow in a few weeks. For more information contact Carol Graham at selkirkloop@verizon.net

ON THE WEB

Look Out for Byways.org's New Look!

Our traveler website, www.byways.org, will be getting a "face lift" in the coming weeks! Keep your eyes peeled!

NEWS BRIEFS

Congratulations to Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway's Becky Heise

Bismarck, ND — Arik Spencer, North Dakota State Byway Coordinator, passed on this great news to us: Governor John Hoeven presented the Governor's Take Pride in America awards, recognizing individuals and organizations for their volunteer activities to improve North Dakota's public lands and waterways, including an awareness of their values. Becky Heise, Valley City, was presented the individual award for her work on the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway. For the past seven years, Becky has researched and developed interpretive panels and kiosks that have been placed along the scenic route. In addition, she assisted in developing and obtaining easements for segments of the North Country National Scenic Trail in the Sheyenne River Valley.

News from the Department of Commerce

Washington, DC — At a meeting of the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced a $3.9 million cooperative agreement to the Travel Industry Association (TIA) to develop a destination Web site for the United States. TIA will create and market multi-language consumer-focused Web sites that will encourage leisure travel to the United States from a broad range of important markets. TIA will be responsible for research, development, implementation and marketing of this new site.

The objective of the agreement is to create destination awareness, positive perception, and intent to travel to the United States from five identified markets: Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom. These markets represent the largest originating countries for inbound international travelers to the United States.

Travel Industry Association Reveals "The Blueprint for Change"

Jay Rasulo, TIA National Chair and Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced at the State of the Travel Industry Luncheon "The Blueprint for Change," which offers "concrete proposals to repair our visa policy, improve entry procedures and take action that can alter negative perceptions of the U.S. in other countries."

For complete coverage, visit the TIA website.

FROM THE ROADS

Washington, DC — In our December Bulletin, we launched this "FROM THE ROADS" feature that includes photos that show not just the intrinsic qualities, but also the celebrations, quirkiness, pride, fun, and people of the byways. We invite you to send along some great "high-res" (300 dpi or greater) photos of the communities and qualities that make your byway special, and we will include them in this section.

Grants.gov Tips continued:

To obtain a DUNS number, you will be asked for an SIC code, a code used to classify businesses or organizations applying for grant money. We have two links that might prove helpful with your decision as to which code applies to your byway organization. At the OSHA website, there are links to this SIC code keyword search page or the SIC code manual. The SIC manual is broken down into manageable divisions and groups, and we have gone through and found that most applicants will find their SIC codes in one of the following divisions:

• Division E: Transportation, Communications, Electric, Gas, And Sanitary Services
• Division I: Services
• Division J: Public Administration

One byway representative decided to use 8699 — "Member organizations not elsewhere classified" — found in Division J.

CCR, or Central Contractor Registration, requires both an SIC code and a six-digit NAICS code. A spreadsheet of NAICS codes can be downloaded from the Census.gov website. We did a quick scan through the NAICS codes and pulled out a few that may be relevant for byway applicants:

• 487110 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land
• 487990 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other
• 488490 Other Support Activities for Road Transportation
• 541620 Environmental Consulting Services
• 561591 Convention and Visitors Bureaus
• 712110 Museums
• 712120 Historical Sites
• 712190 Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions
• 813312 Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations
• 813319 Other Social Advocacy Organizations
• 813990 Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations)
• 921150 American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments
• 924120 Administration of Conservation Programs
• 925120 Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development
• 926110 Administration of General Economic Programs
• 926120 Regulation and Administration of Transportation Programs

Please do not stress over "Is this the right code for me?" Pick the code that most closely resembles your organization. There is no wrong answer.

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