Blue heron, blue lupin, blue bead flowers, the blue of the sea; red soil, red roses, a pair of red pigtails tacked on teddy bears and toy pigs as well as little girl dolls; green fields, green lawns, Green Gables.....

The north shore of Canada's Prince Edward Island is "Anne's Land" marked on maps for the benefit of the thousands of visitors who come here every year and who want to go straight to the source. The field and sea vistas glowingly described by author Lucy Maud Montgomery a century ago are as much a magnet to the pristine island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as the Grand Canyon to Arizona and the Pyramids to Egypt.

"Anne of Green Gables" and "Emily of New Moon" are only two of the spunky heroines Montgomery created in her twenty novels set on PEI, and even with her vivid imagination she could not have foreseen their international appeal. In Japan the red-haired orphan, Anne Shirley, has become an icon.

Emily Starr, the dark-haired ward of two maiden aunts, is now the heroine of a CBC series, and she is coming up fast. (A recent editorial cartoon showed Anne bashing Emily with a slate showing even icons can get pushed out of shape.) "Emily of New Moon" should move to U.S. television next year.

While the books have brought tourists and tourist-prosperity to the island, they have also contributed to its undoing. The fragile dunes have been trampled by careless picnickers; souvenir hunters have ripped at the lupin; speculators plan vacation villages along the pristine shores.

Land, in fact, is becoming too dear for agriculture on Canada's smallest province. While the Lucy Maud Montgomery Land Trust raises funds to purchase rights and limitations on development have been imposed in recent years, much of the hope for preservation lies within tourism itself. Can the potential of long-term profit offset immediate gain?

PEI is only 139 miles long (171 miles point to point driving), 3.7 to 40 miles wide and is separated from the mainland of Nova Scotia by the Northumberland Strait. The 9-mile long Confederation Bridge opened in 1997 has made it easier than ever to come, and the U.S.-Canadian dollar exchange rate is enormously favorable to the United States. Tourism grew by 57 percent in 1997 and is exceeding that in 1998. Most of it is concentrated in July and August.

In fact, midsummer festivals overlap. There are pageants, parades and competitions from fiddle playing to tractor pulls. Strawberries, blueberries and potato blossoms have their own outdoor parties. Harvests of oysters, mussels and lobsters are celebrated through September. The end of September sees a "70-Mile Coastal Yard Sale" on the Wood Islands. Summer theatre includes "Anne of Green Gables -- The Musical" in Charlottetown's Confederation Centre of the Arts, and there is much more. The island's heritage is underscored with Micmac, Acadian, Scottish and Irish programs and stories.

From June through October, Outside Expeditions (1-800/207-3899) arranges sea kayaking, adventure and inn-to-inn tours for families and groups of any size. A dozen companies offer guided sightseeing tours. Bikes, boats and windsurfers can be rented. Seal and bird-watching cruises go out daily. PEI has campgrounds and hostels; horse riding and craft shows; more than 100 trout-fishing holes. It’s no wonder people come in droves.

I was on the island in early June, and there were crowds only at Green Gables itself. We followed the signs of the scenic Blue Heron Drive, stopping at villages like Malpeque and French River. The golf courses were oases. The restored Victorian mansions turned bed & breakfasts had rooms to spare. Reservations were needed only at a handful of the most acclaimed restaurants and only on weekends at that. The historic houses and museums were nearly empty. Yet, while the primary tourist-attracting events and theatricals had not begun in earnest, traditional Celtic ceilidh concerts were advertised for both midweek and weekends, and the Highland Gathering was set for the end of the month in Summerside.

By and large, the island was still at rest, and I would not have been too surprised to meet Anne or Emily walking briskly along the Confederation Trail or seen them sitting on a dune watching the clouds go by. "Wouldn't it be nice if it could last?" Anne asked. Caught in the pincers of tourism, nice doesn't last without help.

Parks Canada has stepped in to protect the moving parabolic dune system on the Greenwich peninsula, and expanding Prince Edward Island National Park is under study. Organizations such as the Piping Plover Guardians send volunteers to intercept the public at the breeding grounds. The Confederation Trail, the off-road bike and hiking trail, which will soon cross the entire island (225 kilometers now in place), encourages nonmotor transport in summer and cross-country skiing in winter. Shelters along the way protect the intrepid from the inclement.

Maintaining the island's ecological and cultural sites without diminishing the active use of beaches and parks includes providing tourist facilities away from environmentally sensitive areas. Many more self-guided trails will be in place if the park expansion goes through. Interpretive centers will stress both history and the fragility of the island as well as providing for basic needs and parking. Meanwhile, this beautiful place to visit needs tourists who care too.

IF YOU GO: You can reach PEI by car crossing the Confederation Bridge or by auto-ferry. You can also fly to Charlottetown via Halifax on Air Nova and rent a car on arrival. I stayed at three historic and moderately priced B&Bs: Charlotte's Rose Inn, Charlottetown (1-888-237-3699); Barachois Inn, North Rustico (902-963-2184); Elmwood, Charlottetown (902-368-3310) but there are many more family-run charmers as well as hotels, motels, campgrounds and youth hostels.

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