Monday , July 28, 2008
Serving Birders by Keith Hackland A report on the growing success of birding as an economic force in the remarkable Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas illustrates economic and conservation benefits of serving birders. Natural History of the Valley Step into the magical ‘Texas tropics’ . . . a delta 140 miles by 25 miles lying beside the Rio Grande, the international boundary between Mexico and United States, twisting and turning on its final path to the ocean. Here sub-tropical meets temperate, and desert cactus meets riparian forest. Ancient salt lakes, pot hole lakes, ox-bow lakes, dams, reservoirs, and canals funnel water onto the arid plains. The Rio Grande, America’s fifth largest river, finally meets the ocean, just south of where sand dunes support a narrow barrier island that runs north and encloses the hyper-saline Laguna Madre from the Gulf of Mexico. This delta (generally referred to as the Valley) is believed to be the most biologically diverse in the United States. Eleven biotic communities occur within just 3,500 square miles in four counties. It supports 1200 plant species, 500 bird species and 300 butterfly species – more than half the bird and butterfly species in U.S. When the Valley was heavily settled just ninety years ago, no thought was given to bird habitat. 95% of the land was cleared for development and agriculture. An extensive irrigation system with reservoirs and flood control was created and the river was dammed. Seasonal ox-box lakes were turned into permanent lakes. This changed a semi-arid area of erratic rainfall (22 inches per annum.), with recurring droughts, at times broken by heavy rains and extensive flooding, into one of better water stability where some fresh water and habitat is available year round to birds miles inland from the river. Today that agricultural land is being converted to housing, at times improving habitat for birds with more trees and margins, additional city parks, and a reduction in agricultural chemicals. Government (federal, state, county and city) has set aside bird habitat in refuges and parks. Non-profit land and private land is opening to birding. Acquisition of land for birding habitat continues, due to the economic pull of birding. Economic Impact of Birding in the Valley The Texas side of the Rio Grande supports almost 1,000,000 people, has one of the highest unemployment rates in the U.S., and one county has the lowest per capita income in the U.S. Economic development is a priority. Locally birding is today often accepted as one means of improving the economy. Birding tourism began when Roger Tory Peterson, the man who invented the bird field guide in North America, visited and promoted the Valley frequently throughout his lifetime. Kenn Kaufman, one of America’s top birders who recently revolutionized Peterson’s field guides with an enhanced photo guide, states that "The Valley really is the best place in the United States for bird watching." Some of the world’s top birders have settled in the Valley, including raptor expert William S. “Bill” Clark, and top American birding lister Benton Basham. The American Birding Association and Texas Ornithological Society regularly hold Currently it is estimated that 130,000 to 200,000 birders a year (1) flock to the Valley, a yearly average of about 160,000. These birders spend $109 to $ 122 million a year within the Valley (2). This pays for 3,018 full time jobs, assuming 53 birder visits spend enough to create one job for one year (3). These figures are based on 1998 and 2001 research, in the Valley and nationally, and while not precise, they do give a good idea of the economic impact of birding. So when considering whether a piece of land should be used to grow crops, paved to park cars, or be set aside for birding, there is a simple economic gauge – how many full time jobs does each use fund per year? Economically birding can come out on top when the local economy is geared to serving birders. meetings in the Valley. Over fifty specialty birds and appearances by rarities and vagrants enhance the attraction of the area. Records show each rare bird species attracts 1,000 or more out-of-area birders. This generates up to $750,000 in local spending. A combination of rarities, such as occurred January through March 2005, brings in higher numbers. One hot spot, Frontera Audubon Sanctuary, in five months received 10,000 unanticipated out-of-area birder visits to see three rarities. 60% of these visitors were from out of Texas. Rental cars overflowed from the parking lot and lined the streets outside the sanctuary. The prior winter 800 people donated $10 each at Allen Williams’ home to see the Blue Mockingbird and another 200 visited but did not donate. El Canelo Ranch has the hard-to-find Feruginous Pygmy-Owl breeding behind the ranch house and for years has received $35 each from birders to stake it out. Serving Birders in the Valley If one can find the point when the Valley began looking for ways to serve birders better, it could have been with the start of the twelve year old RGV Birding Festival, the brain child of Nancy Millar. Millar does not call herself a birder, but rather a tourism professional, and she has the unlikely birding background of working for a chamber of commerce. She realized that promoting birding in the Valley would bring increased tourism dollars and support bird habitat. So she proposed the Valley’s first birding festival to the local chamber and rounded up the area’s most prominent birders and put them to work. Skepticism from the city fathers about this crazy idea melted away when they saw motels and restaurants fill up and busses of birders motoring to hot spots around the Valley. Since then serving birders has become a growth industry in the Valley, one supported by local business, media, politicians and birders alike. Today the Valley boasts dozens of birding events a year – nine annual birding and nature festivals, seven Christmas Bird Counts, two thirty day spring hawk watches (raptor counts), bird banding, and birding competitions. There are free guided birding tours every day at two National Wildlife Refuges and one State Park, night owl prowls, low cost day trips by van, and birding tours on private ranches. Bird guides are available for hire and birding access on private ranches is increasing. Pelagic trips on the Gulf of Mexico and birding trips into Mexico are organized from the Valley. Many international birding tour companies run tours through here. Travel and outdoor writers have begun to focus on the area, resulting in many magazine, newspaper and internet stories on the Valley’s nature attributes. A recent story that appeared in the “Washington Post” on birding the Valley was picked up and reprinted by top regional newspapers across the U.S. Birders arrived in the Valley holding the piece as they followed its itinerary of hot spots and lodging through the area. Local media are increasing their coverage to include interpretive and informational columns that help inform those serving birders. With the completion in 1998 of Texas Parks & Wildlife’s series of guide maps on “The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail”, which leads birders along the coast and into the Valley, numerous other publications for birders visiting the Valley took off. These are produced by commercial and non-profit enterprises, and include good quality birding hot spot maps, checklists, field narratives, guides, photographic presentations, art, graphics, and logo-bearing pieces and clothing. Unique to the Valley are home-grown partnerships that have been created to serve birders. Nine cities partnered with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to create the World Birding Center, starting with a series of nine linked bird preserves that cater to birders, offering enhanced trails and interpretive services. The network is currently in development and is establishing working partnerships with the American Birding Association, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Mexico’s Pronatura to make the Valley into a pivot that ultimately connects birding services in North America with those in Central and South America. Three years ago South Texas Nature was formed by all the Chambers of Commerce in the Valley, joined by local airports and the World Birding Center to pool resources and co-operatively market the area to birders in North America and Europe. In 1999 seven local bed and breakfast owners got together and now market themselves as the Birding Bed & Breakfasts of the Rio Grande Valley. One of these, Alamo Inn B&B, opened in 2000 to serve birders, hosting four birders plus other travelers that year. In the 2005 season it hosted 500 birders, who now constitute over 90% of its guests. Its success is attributed to identifying and serving the needs of birders. Another business, Lens and Land, rents time to nature photographers in photo blinds set up at feeding and water points on private lands. Non-profit groups actively serve birders. Valley Nature Center runs interpretive and educational nature programs, partnering with Chambers of Commerce and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, reaching 86,000 visitors and residents a year. The Friends of Santa Ana Refuge, partnering with the refuge, runs very popular canoe trips on the Rio Grande. Many non-profit sanctuaries, like Texas Audubon’s Sable Palm Sanctuary, maintain feeders in selected spots set up with chairs for easy viewing and photographing of birds. Valley Land Fund created a nature photography competition ten years ago that is now the richest nature photography competition in the world, and publishes winning photos in an exquisite coffee table book every two years. Funds raised go into land acquisition for additional habitat, like the migrant mini-sanctuary on South Padre Island. Summary Today the Valley is known not only for its birds, but also for the ingenuity and energy of those serving visiting birders. Attending to birders’ needs does not require national hot spot status to succeed. Local creativity and imaginative partnerships can provide improved services to birders in any area. With effective marketing birders will show up and the news will spread through the birding community and bring more birders. This has been the experience in the Valley where serving birders makes an important contribution to the economy, resulting in higher values attributed to the conservation of birds and their habitat.