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Report: Outdoors people like to watch wildlife
Monday, November 17, 2008 | 1 comment(s)
SALEM (AP) — America’s outdoorsy types are a different sort these days. They like to watch.
A recent report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the participation rates and economic impact of hunting and fishing now trail those of wildlife watching.
The report on the economic impacts of wildlife watching says that in 2006, 71 million Americans spent a total of $45.7 billion observing, feeding and photographing wildlife.
About half the money was spent on equipment such as binoculars, cameras, day packs, field guides and backyard birding supplies.
Another $13 billion went for wildlife-watching trips, including transportation, lodging and food.
In turn, those direct expenditures generated $122.6 billion in “total industrial output,” the report says. That’s a term for the “multiplier-effect” expenditures have as dollars pass through the economy.
The agency said the economic result of wildlife watching in 2006 was more than 1 million jobs, $9.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $8.9 billion in state and local taxes.
The report says the number of Americans who say they watch wildlife increased 8 percent from 2001 to 2006.
Oregon had nearly 1.5 million wildlife-watching participants in 2006, the report says. That’s almost twice the number of Oregonians with hunting or fishing licenses.
It doesn’t cost anything to say you enjoy looking at birds or butterflies in the backyard, which is about all it takes to be counted as a wildlife-watcher.
But direct wildlife-watching spending in Oregon totaled $776.4 million in 2006, the report says.
A recent report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the participation rates and economic impact of hunting and fishing now trail those of wildlife watching.
The report on the economic impacts of wildlife watching says that in 2006, 71 million Americans spent a total of $45.7 billion observing, feeding and photographing wildlife.
About half the money was spent on equipment such as binoculars, cameras, day packs, field guides and backyard birding supplies.
Another $13 billion went for wildlife-watching trips, including transportation, lodging and food.
In turn, those direct expenditures generated $122.6 billion in “total industrial output,” the report says. That’s a term for the “multiplier-effect” expenditures have as dollars pass through the economy.
The agency said the economic result of wildlife watching in 2006 was more than 1 million jobs, $9.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $8.9 billion in state and local taxes.
The report says the number of Americans who say they watch wildlife increased 8 percent from 2001 to 2006.
Oregon had nearly 1.5 million wildlife-watching participants in 2006, the report says. That’s almost twice the number of Oregonians with hunting or fishing licenses.
It doesn’t cost anything to say you enjoy looking at birds or butterflies in the backyard, which is about all it takes to be counted as a wildlife-watcher.
But direct wildlife-watching spending in Oregon totaled $776.4 million in 2006, the report says.
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