Grain, beef, football, scenic byways. All contribute to Nebraska's economy, but just how much is hard to measure -- at least for the byways.

By all appearances, the nine Nebraska Scenic Byways, designated 10 years ago this fall by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, have boosted tourism to the state, although there's no way to prove it.

Even though they can't count visitors attracted strictly by the rural byways, those familiar with the byways say traffic along them has increased by more than average growth since they were established.

Two of nine

The program is designed to show off the state's most scenic and historic routes and to help develop their assets to attract tourists. Just nine byways were selected in the fall of 1999 from among applications seeking the designation for 17 sections of rural highways. No more will be added.

Two of the byways start or end in Siouxland. The Lewis and Clark Scenic Byway begins on U.S. Highway 75 just north of Omaha and runs 82 miles north to South Sioux City, following the route taken by its namesake expedition in 1804 and 1806; The Outlaw Trail begins in Willis, just west of South Sioux City, and runs 231 miles, to Valentine, Neb., following the trail of legendary Old West train robber Jesse James. Both byways are rich in various American Indian tribes' cultures and natural scenery, too.

Lewis & Clark byway

The Nebraska Loess Hills Resource Conservation and Development nominated the Lewis & Clark Trail to become a byway and continues to support and promote it.

Dick Leitschuck, a volunteer from South Sioux City, helped get some of the grants for two attractions along the Lewis & Clark Scenic Byway: the bison viewing turnout on the Winnebago Reservation and the four interpretive signs clustered just north of present day Homer, Neb. One sign marks the site of the Omaha Tribe's largest village, Tonwantonga. Lewis and Clark went there to meet with the Omahas but found the village had been decimated by smallpox except for some survivors who appeared to be away hunting.

Another sign commemorates Lewis and Clark's Fish Camp, a site on the former Mahar Creek, near the Missouri River where the expedition caught 318 fish one day and a whopping 800 the next day. Although the river and creek have taken new courses, the sign marks the spot as recorded in expedition journals.

Leitschuck said there are plenty of other attractions along the byway, too: the Honoring the Clans Sculpture Garden and adjacent Woodlands Trail Art Center in Ho-Chunk Village at Winnebago, Neb., the Chief Big Elk Park campground near Macy, Neb., and Tower of the Four Winds, near Blair, Neb., for instance.

Outlaw Quilts contribute

Communities along the trails play off their history and natural resources to create new reasons for people to visit. Twyla Witt, the state's byways consultant, said the Outlaw Trail's recent event, "See the Byway the Quilt Way," is a good example. It featured expert speakers at three spots, from St. James to Sparks, Neb., and hundreds of antique and contemporary quilts displayed at various stops along the byway.

Tourists came from Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa. "They not only saw quilts," Witt said, "but stayed in hotels and bought meals and gas for three days."

Witt said tourism suits rural communities well because it doesn't require much infrastructure. She credits the byways' success to the volunteers who improve them and drive hundreds of miles each month to trade shows, state fairs and sports shows to promote them.

"There's this vitality with rural America." she said. "These people have learned to deal with a lot of challenges, as their ancestors did, always remembering it's a place they cherish."

Return on investment?

Kent Neumann, coordinator for Loess Hills Resource Conservation and Development, said he believes the byways have made a positive economic impact. "I don't know how we would ever measure it, though," he said.

Witt, too, said she knows they have been successful but can't prove it. "There are so many variables," she said.

Figures from the state show lodging sales in Dakota County have risen every year since 2000, from $3.37 million in 2000 to $3.8 million in 2008. Traffic counts have also gone up steadily along the Lewis and Clark Scenic Byway on U.S. Highway 75 south of Winnebago, from 1,180 vehicles per day in 2000 to 1,385 per day in 2008.

Tom Doering, who did the research for the Department of Economic Development, said traffic and lodging taxes did not increase along all nine byways, however. But the number of visitors to Fort Atkinson Historical State Park, near the southern end of the trail, jumped during the expedition anniversary, nearly tripling from 42,050 in 2003 to 115,622 in 2004, the year the three-year anniversary commemoration started, before returning to previous levels.

"That's the purpose of the byway," Leitschuck said, "to get information out there, to get travelers out there to learn about the area and its unique attractions. We have to stay and help the economies of our rural communities."