Wildlife Watching in Wisconsin

In 2001, the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which gathers information on the number of anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers in the United States, reported 66.1 million U.S. residents over the age of 16 participated in some form of wildlife-watching activity. The survey, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1955, also showed bird watching to be the most popular wildlife watching activity.

According to the survey, Wisconsin's participation in wildlife watching was the third highest of all states, with 53 percent of all residents age 16 and older. The study also found that 3,165,000 people - including residents and non-residents - participated in wildlife-related activities in Wisconsin. Three-fourths of these participants were wildlife observers.

Trip Characteristics and Demographics

The survey categorizes wildlife-watching activities as residential (within a mile of one's home) and nonresidential (at least one mile away from home). The focus of this newsletter, which is intended to report on the economic impact of travelers, will be the nonresidential wildlife observers.

Nearly 21 million people throughout the United States took trips away from their residential areas in 2001 to feed, observe or photograph wildlife. The majority (83 percent) of these people traveled within their own state, 13 percent took trips in both their resident state and other states, and 17 percent went out-of-state for wildlife-watching activities.

Gender differences were fairly evenly divided, with 52 percent males and 48 percent females. The 35-44 year old age group had the highest participation rate (13 percent), followed closely by 45-54 year olds (12 percent). Income levels of these wildlife enthusiasts covered all income brackets. Fifteen percent of the U.S. households in the $50,000-$74,999 income brackets as well as 15 percent of the households in the $100,000 or more bracket participated in wildlife watching activities away from home. In addition, 16 percent of the U.S. population who had incomes between $75,000-$99,999 also participated.

Eighteen percent of the U.S. population with five or more years of college and 13 percent of those with four years of college participated in nonresidential wildlife-watching activities.

Economic Impact

The economic impact of wildlife watching is huge. Participants spend $38.4 billion in 2001, an average of $738 per spender, representing 35 percent of the total dollars spent for all wildlife-related recreation. Equipment expenditures generated the highest impact with $23.5 billion; $4.8 billion was spent on food and lodging; $2.6 billion on transportation costs; $0.7 billion on other trip costs. In addition, $6.7 billion was spent on other expenditures including magazines, books, membership dues/contributions, land leasing/ownership, and plantings.

In Wisconsin, the direct spending impact of wildlife observers amounted to $251 million in 2001, of which $152 million was spent on food and lodging, $78 million on transportation costs, and $22 million on other trip-related costs. In addition, $837 million was spent on equipment costs and $224 on other expenditures. In all, the impact of Wisconsin's wildlife observers in 2001 was over $1.3 billion.

Birding Opportunities in Wisconsin

As evidenced by the National Survey, birding can be big business, and Wisconsin has begun to take notice. The Great Wisconsin Birding Trail, a proposed statewide auto trail that would lead people to parks, historic sites, rivers, lakes, and biking trails, currently consists of five loops - The Great River Birding Trail, Oak Leaf Birding Trail, Horicon Marsh, Lake Superior/Northwoods Birding and Nature Trail, and Ozaukee County Interurban Trail. Nominations for additional sites to be included on the map are being solicited. For more information on the Great Wisconsin Birding Trail, contact the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative through their Web site, www.wisconsinbirds.org. This trail will accommodate all types of visitors from the die-hard birding enthusiast to the to the curious visitor who is looking for something different, and the purpose of the trail map is to get visitors into the areas along the trail.

For information on obtaining this or other Department of Tourism research documents, please see our Research page.