Oregon bicycle riders can now nominate their favorite routes for consideration as State Scenic Bikeways.

Such designated bikeways would follow roads and bicycle paths that connect riders with outstanding scenic, historic and natural settings.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) will accept nominations through Jan. 31, 2010, and annually from Nov. 1 - Jan. 31 thereafter.

An Oregon Scenic Bikeways handbook is now online at www.oregonscenicbikeways.org and gives a step-by-step designation process and provides instructions and forms for nominators.

Nominations will be considered by the Oregon Scenic Bikeway Committee, an advisory group that will recommend scenic bikeway designations to the OPRD director.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission must give final approvals.

The Oregon program is the first state government-sanctioned scenic bikeway designation process in the nation.

The program is a partnership between Cycle Oregon, Travel Oregon, the Oregon Department of Transportation and OPRD.

The Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway, which was developed as a 2005 pilot project by the partnership, serves as a prototype for the program. The Willamette Valley route has been officially recognized as Oregon's first state scenic bikeway.

For more information on the Scenic Bikeways program, contact Alexandra Phillips at 503.986.0631 or alex.phillips@state.or.us

The National Endowment for the Arts has provided a grant to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to create an online survival toolkit for cultural and heritage tourism attractions and organizations.

As part of this effort, the National Trust will seek and share creative strategies that cultural and heritage attractions are using to survive and thrive in a down economy. The creation of this toolkit offers an opportunity to provide assistance to the cultural and heritage tourism industry.

The Heritage Tourism Program will survey cultural and heritage organizations and attractions this fall as the first step towards creating this toolkit. While the toolkit development effort will continue through the fall of 2010, toolkit resources will be posted on www.culturalheritagetourism.org and www.preservationnation.org as they become available.

As a first step the National Trust wants your help to identify potential resources and possible case studies that should be included in this toolkit.

Contact Amy Webb, director of the National Trust's Heritage Tourism Program, at amy_webb@nthp.org or 303.413.1986 with your ideas and suggestions for the toolkit.

Click here for more information or to fill out the Cultural Heritage Tourism online survey

Travel Oregon, Cycle Oregon, Hopworks Urban Brewery and Substance invite you to join them for the official launch of the Ride Oregon website from 2:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21.

There is no better way to celebrate cycling in Oregon than to go on a bike ride and toast with a bikey beer to celebrate the occasion, so join us!

The event will kick off with presentations by Oregon's cycling and tourism professionals showing how our state's reputation as a cycling destination is growing. After that, the features and content of RideOregonRide.com will be demonstrated - the site has already named a Communication Arts "web pick of the week".

Next, we will Celebrate the Ride by hopping on our bikes and heading down to the East Bank Esplanade. The ride will be led by Portland Bicycle Tours and supported by Pedal Bike Tours and Cycle Oregon. Dress warm and bring your fenders, this is Oregon after all. The short ride will make its way to Hopworks Urban Brewery for the Ride Oregon reception and mixer. Light appetizers and refreshments will be provided as well as the chance to taste Hopwork's new Oregon Bike Beer.

Here is the complete schedule of events:
2:30 p.m. - Presentation and website demonstration
Substance, 1551 SE Poplar Avenue, Portland, OR

3:30 p.m. - Celebrate the Ride from Substance to Hopworks
Departing from Substance, 1551 SE Poplar Avenue, Portland, OR

4:30-7 p.m. - Ride Oregon reception and debut of Hopworks new Oregon Bike Beer
Hopworks Urban Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Blvd., Portland, Ore. (Downstairs in the brewery)

Please RSVP to attend:
Click here to RSVP to Presentations & Ride at Substance

Click here to RSVP to Reception at Hopworks

In the November 2009 issue of Golf Digest, Sunriver Resort is recognized as one of four nationwide recipients of the inaugural Green Star Award from Golf Digest, which recognizes the country's most outstanding environmental leaders in golf.

Resorts were judged based on their comprehensive environmental program - for the golf course especially, but also the resort operation - that encompasses water use and conservation, energy use and conservation, waste disposal, pest and disease management, wildlife promotion, and contribution to the local environment and community.

Click here to read the complete article from Golf Digest

Visit the Sunriver Resort website by clicking here

The League of American Bicyclists recently announced its Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) award winners and four Portland area organizations were recognized on the list of 45.

King Cycle Group in Portland was awarded Gold status, Frans Pauwels Memorial Community Bicycle Center in Aloha and Saturno Design in Portland gained Silver status, while Travel Portland was recognized with Bronze status.

BFB businesses make bicycle friendliness a core element in the workplace and use innovative tools to promote bicycling as an easy and fun option for transportation and recreation.

The winners provide amenities such as secure bike parking and shower facilities and motivations such as incentives to commute by bike, company bike rides and clubs, and bike to work week promotions.

Applying for BFB status is free. Click here for the online application

The BFB program recognizes socially responsible businesses that promote healthy, happy, and green workplaces and provides a road map to become even more bicycle-friendly in the years to come.

Click here to see the fall 2009 winners