RE: PORT SHOWS WILDLIFE WATCHERS ARE BIG SPENDERS

>Well, duh - just Leitz, Zeiss, Canon and Nikon! Actually, they
>said "report" which listproc thinks was a command so I had to muss
>it up to fool the stoopeed kommieputer.

More than 76 million Americans watched, photographed, and fed
birds and other wildlife in 1991, spending $18.1 billion,
according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report. This
spending generated nearly $40 billion in total economic activity
across the country, supporting 766,000 jobs and resulting in $3
billion in state and Federal tax revenues.

Equipment and other expenditures accounted for $10.6 billion of
the $18.1 billion in direct expenditures, according to the
report, "1991 Economic Impacts of Nonconsumptive Wildlife-Related
Recreation." Of this amount, nearly a third was for off-road
vehicles, tent trailers, motor homes, and pick-up trucks.

Wildlife watchers spent $7.5 billion on travel-related goods and
services. Of this amount, 40 percent was for food and drink, 35
percent was for transportation, and 19 percent was for lodging.
They also spent $2.2 billion on cameras, film, and developing and
$1.5 billion on wild bird food.

The report noted that 109 million Americans participated in
wildlife-related recreation, including hunting and fishing. By
comparison, 105 million attended major league football,
basketball, hockey, and baseball games in 1991.

Copies of the report may be obtained from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service's Publications Unit at 4040 N. Fairfax Drive,
Room 130, Arlington, VA 22203; telephone: 703-358-1711.

-FWS-

============================================================
News releases are also available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.fws.gov/~r9extaff/pubaff.html They can be reviewed in
chronological order or searched by keyword.

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, at (NEW) http://donb.photo.net


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, at (NEW) http://donb.photo.net