| "Lake Erie Wing Watch is making a concentrated effort to demonstrate that birders are an important economic and political consideration in the coastal zone." | |
| Linda Feix, Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve |
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While ecotourism is becoming more popular, coastal resource managers and tourism officials are still often seen as pursuing different goals. These two groups have successfully worked together in Ohio to create Lake Erie Wing Watch, a nonprofit organization that works to support both the economic and environmental health of the state's coast through the promotion of bird watching.
"We're promoting birding, but we're preserving and protecting habitat at the same time," said Linda Feix, education coordinator at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve. "Initially, we came together with very different goals in mind. As our Lake Erie Wing Watch program began to evolve, it became very clear that we're all trying to make this a better place to live."
Formed in 1994, Lake Erie Wing Watch is a partnership between the three coastal county visitors bureaus and 14 private, county, state, and federal natural resource agencies. Collectively the group manages 18,000 acres and 45 miles of nature trails. "We work cooperatively to attract visitors to the area while minimizing traffic and environmental impact to prime birding spots," Feix said.
The group has published more than 75,000 birding guides, hosted annual Lake Erie Wing Watch Weekends, and identified birding habitats in the region. Peak migration periods occur during the area's "off season" and the visitors bureaus have been educating the local business community about the needs of the birding market, said Melinda Huntley, executive director of the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau. "We have been able to assign a dollar figure to bird watching, which sounds crass, but we live in a world where money talks and the environment needs to be given a dollar value to give it a voice."
The dollar amounts the group has been able to cite include $5.6 million that a 1995 study determined birders spent while visiting two Ottawa County wildlife areas, and $350,000 spent over a four-day period by attendees of a 1997 birding symposium. "Lake Erie Wing Watch is making a concentrated effort to demonstrate that birders are an important economic and political consideration in the coastal zone," Feix said.
Huntley said that by promoting bird watching, tourism officials have recognized the "deeper purpose" of preservation. "It didn't start out that way. It was something we came to learn.... Over time we realized that by working together we can do more than promote birding. We can help save some of these lands, too."
Feix said, "Through Wing Watch, we are getting the message out in Ohio that healthy natural areas are a significant economic and biological resource for all of us. It's been a good vehicle for us to get people more interested in our coastal area and coastal issues."
For more information on Lake Erie Wing Watch, contact Linda Feix at (419) 433-4601, or lfeix@ocean.nos.noaa.gov. You may also contact Melinda Huntley at (800) 441-1271, extension 223, or tourism@lake-erie.com.
