A new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report reveals just how important avian wildlife habitat is to the nation’s economy.

Their “Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis” released last month, found that 46 million birdwatchers across America spent $32 billion in 2001 pursuing what has become one of the nation's most popular outdoor activities. The report is the first of its kind analyzing data from the 2001 national survey of fishing, hunting, and wildlife-associated recreation.

The report reveals that one in five Americans is a birdwatcher and that this fascination with fowl translates into roughly $32 billion annually in gear such as binoculars, telescopes, travel, food and big ticket items like canoes, cabins and tours.

In 2001 this spending generated $85 billion in overall economic output and $13 billion in federal and state income taxes. Some 865,000 jobs were supported by bird watching.

For this reason, the Coastal Bays Program and Delmarva Low-Impact Tourism Experiences (DLITE) have been cooperatively pursuing efforts to protect bird habitat and promote nature tourism in the form of birding trails.

So far the Coastal Bays Program and its partners have protected some 12,000 acres of bird habitat in the coastal bays watershed. Current work with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) seeks to secure several hundred more acres through restoration projects. The Corps is targeting the St. Martins River watershed and the SHA is perusing a borrow bit in Bishopville and one near Berlin where three rare bird species are breeding. Last spring birders from around the region flocked to the Berlin site to see moorhens, pied-billed grebes and a pair of least bitterns breeding on the unique parcel.

The program is also pushing better habitat management on private lands by helping to design and seek funding for projects. The recently completed Forest Strategy for the coastal bays watershed calls for incentives for landowners to keep older growth stands, plant more diverse species and to keep contiguous forests intact. All of these recommendations are critical to the survival of Forest Interior Dwelling Species (FIDS)-- bird watchers favorites.

In 2004, DLITE will begin work on its anticipated Cape to Cape Birding Trail from Cape May, New Jersey to Cape Charles, Virginia. With the highly-touted “Birders Guide to Delmarva” as its ground, the birding route will traverse every county on the shore and hit both the well-known and many lesser known sites throughout the region. The brochure, replete with map, will be free. The Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland tourism departments will market the trail along the East Coast where the Fish & Wildlife Service shows half of the six most birder-filled states lie.

The agency’s birding demographics showed that leading the birding bonanza as a percent of population were Montana, Vermont, and Wisconsin. California, New York and Pennsylvania had the greatest numbers of birders. To be considered a birdwatcher, a person had to take a trip a mile or more from home for the primary purpose of observing birds or had to closely observe or try to identify birds around the home. Those who noticed birds while mowing the lawn or picnicking were not counted as birders. Trips to zoos and observing captive birds also did not count as birdwatching.

According to the report, watching birds around the home is the most common form of bird-watching. Taking trips away from home counted for 40 percent (18 million) of birders. The full report is available on-line at http://federalaid.fws.gov.