Subject: front-page birding
Date: Feb 4 10:41:32 2001
From: Eugene Kridler - ekridler at olympus.net


Hal:

Interesting about the N.Y. Times article about birding. Why does that
information appear in a New York paper and totally ignored by Seattle
papers.

Over a year ago I wrote the editors for the Seattle Times and
Post-Intelligencer, the Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles
and the Sequim Gazette about the wealth of statistical data found in 168
page 1996 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated
Recreation and 11 page booklet 1996 National and State Impacts of
Wildlife Watching published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.
Commerce Department, Economics and Statitics Administration and the
Bureau of the Census.

I summarized the data about the huge numbers of bird watchers, the amount
of money they spent, amount spent for bird seed, equipment, travel,
books, organizations, etc., etc., etc. Also put it on Tweeters. Result:
only the small town Sequim Gazette published it. Got a big yawn from the
other papers as well as Tweeters. How in the hell do you expect to get
political count if you sit on your tail feathers? I was hoping a number
of others would others would bug the newspapers. and their elected
representatives.As a lone individual you don't carry much weight.

There's millions of words written about spectator sports and mountains of
statistics. The only thing they don't cover is how many times a batter
spits or scatches his butt. Yet the number of wildlife watchers in 1995
totaled 62.9 million which compares very favorably with the 73.8 million
couch potatos, er, spectator sport watchers. According to an article from
Forbes magazine more American preferred wildlife watching than hiking,
skiing, tennis an (gasp!) golf.

62.9 million people watched wildlife, mainly birds. Birders spent $29.2
billion dollars in 1995. In Washington 39% of the citizens watched
wildlife, again mostly birds. They spent $1.1 billion for equipment and
$508 million for trips. Sales tax revenues that year were about $56.9
million and jobs supported by wildlife watchers, again mostly birds, was
21,454.

Those are not my figures but those found in the Survey books..

The Times article triggered me into trying to give it another shot.
Nothing ventured: nothing gained.

Gene Kridler
Doddering 81-year old Broken Down Retired Biologist

Hal Opperman wrote:

> Today's New York Times has a superb front-page article on birding, by
> Francis X. Clines. Our profile is rising... can serious political
> clout be far behind? Pick up the paper, or check out the story here
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/04/national/04BIRD.html
>
> Hal Opperman
> Medina, Washington
> mailto:halop at accessone.com