Subject: Re: decreasing birders
Date: Aug 11 07:09:30 1997
From: Cathi Pelletier - heronwing at juno.com
On Sun, 10 Aug 1997 21:51:18 -0700 (PDT) Robert Dunnell
<dunnell at u.washington.edu> writes:
>Wide range of publications indicates that bird watching is the only
>outdoor activity showing marked increase here in the states and that
>mercifully, hunting is declining. "Nonconsumptive participants" may
>include an enormous range of activities. More importantly, USFW has
>absolutely no way of tracking something like birdwatching -- no
>stamps,
>permits, licenses, etc. to buy or apply for -- at least not yet! The
>real
>clue to the increase in birdwatching is the number of advertisements
>appearing on behalf of counties, etc. in the travel sections of
>non-nature
>magazines e.g., Southern Living, etc. touting the number of species of
>birds to be found within their boundaries. mdd
Hello Robert -
If you've had a chance to see the followup post I did on this subject,
you've seen that the FWS Service got their information from the US Census
Bureau. The Bureau DOES have ways of tracking the numbers of
"nonconsumptive participants," which includes, but is not limited to,
birders and wildlife phototgraphers.
IMHO, the number of advertisements is really not reflective of the number
of birders, but of the increase in the amount of money being spent.
Although there were fewer "nonconsumptive participants" by 17%, we spent
$29 billion dollars, up 39% from 1991.
The number of hunters and anglers has remained relatively constant,
dropping less than 1%. Their spending was also up, by a whopping 69%!
Cathi Pelletier
Waterbury, CT
Heronwing at juno.com
Long Live Operation Renegade!