Mexican officials have unveiled plans for a trans-peninsular boat-hauling service in Baja California, as well as an extensive network of new harbors and docking facilities along the coastlines of Baja and mainland Sonora and Sinaloa states. Known as the Escalera Nautica, or Nautical Stair, the 10-year, $233-million project is being billed as a potentially important source of tourism and jobs. But it irks environmental groups and boaters worried about how development will affect Baja’s still-rugged coastline. Behind the initiative is Mexico’s National Tourism Agency (Fonatur), the catalyst for major resorts in Cancún, Cabo San Lucas and Ixtapa. Fonatur hopes to attract more than 76,000 U.S. boaters annually to Baja California and the Sea of Cortéz by 2010—an ambitious goal... [Log in to read more]
