Birds & Bucks

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The time of year for the many Audubon Christmas Bird Counts is fast approaching. The Ely count will be on Dec. 15th, the Snake Valley count will be on Dec. 17th and the Fish Springs count will be on January 3. I hope you will consider joining in one or more of these counts for a good time, great camaraderie and a good opportunity to learn about our wintering birds. Absolutely no birding expertise is required, only a interest in learning more about birds! These counts are a critical citizen contribution to monitoring our wintering bird populations and provide very significant species status and trend data at the continental level.

The coming of the various Christmas Bird Counts make a great segeway into the topic of wildlife watching and economics. The simple fact is that watching birds and other wildlife is a very significant economic engine and most American are simply not aware of it. Every five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducts a national survey involving thousands of household that is called the National Survey of Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. The most recent survey was done in 2006 and I'd like to share some of the figures as they are a real eye opener for most folks who simply did not know that wildlife watching is such big business. I will be using the data from Utah but Nevada figures, factoring in population differences, will be commensurate.




In Utah during 2006, and estimated 877,000 individuals engaged in wildlife watching. Of that group about 553,00o were resident and about 324,00 were non-residents. To give you a relative idea of the magnitude of wildlife watching, only 541,000 individuals engaged in hunting and fishing combined. Perhaps the most staggering figure is that the estimated expenditures by those engaged in wildlife watching in Utah in 2006 was a staggering 564 million dollars.

An incredible 25.3 million days were spent in Utah wildlife watching around the home with another 2.2 million spent doing so away from home.

An even more indepth perspective on the tremendous economic and recreation activity that wildlife watching represents can be made by comparing these numbers to the Utah population in 2006. It was estimated that the population of Utah in 2006 was right around 2.5 million. So the simple math indicates that one 1 out of every 4.5 residents in Utah intentionally engaged in wildlife watching that year. And remember that the average annual expenditure per resident engaged in wildlife watching was $214 per year! The 324,000 non-resident averaged and expenditure of $860 per year engaging in the same activity in the Beehive state!

So the next time you see someone walking around with those tell tale binoculars on or, as is often the case with bird watchers, driving slow enough watching from the car that you would swear if they went any slower they would go in reverse, remember there are dollars involved here for our local economy. Give then an appreciative nod or even better yet, if you know a local hot spot for birds, take the time to direct them to it. They will be very appreciative and will likely pass on to other birders that experience. Believe me, birders are on of the best networked groups I know of! There are a number of places in the U.S. that have good birding but many fewer that have good birding and are famous for the hospitality that the "locals" show those visiting birders. I suspect the the latter just smile and appreciate that their economy is blessed by this infusion!