Having a bird refuge is not chicken feed, economically speaking.
The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge had an economic impact of $4.1 million in 2017, according to a report from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That year, the refuge had 157,790 visits.
The report, focusing on the economic impact of national wildlife refuges on local economies, indicates that the Bear River refuge had 46 employees in 2017 earning a total of $1.47 million. Nationally, 53.6 million people visited national wildlife refuges in 2017, spending $3.2 billion in local economies and supporting more than 41,000 jobs.
The report, titled “Banking on Nature 2017: The Economic Contributions of National Wildlife Refuge Recreational Visitation to Local Communities,” is the sixth such study since 1997. It analyzed recreational visitation at 162 national wildlife refuges around the country to estimate the economic role refuge visitors play in local economies. The report uses the individual refuge results to estimate the local economic contributions of the entire refuge system.
The Bear River refuge has more than 74,000 acres on the northeast arm of the Great Salt Lake. It was not sampled in the 2011 report. It was in 2006, when it had 42,209 visitors who spent a total of $1.64 million.
“Millions of visitors are drawn each year to the Refuge System’s world-renowned wildlife-related recreation opportunities, generating local economic benefits,” said Margaret Everson, principal deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “National wildlife refuges demonstrate that in addition to conserving our nation’s wild heritage like bald eagles and bison, migratory waterfowl populations and some of our nation’s most important waterways, these public lands and waters add real value to local economies.”
The report indicates that visitors undertake a variety of activities when at a refuge, including hunting, fishing, hiking, paddling, wildlife viewing and nature photography.
The “Banking on Nature” study estimated that national wildlife refuges saw 83 percent of spending was done by visitors from outside the local area — an increase of 9 percent from the 2011 study. Trip-related spending generated $3.2 billion of economic output in regional economies — an increase of 20 percent from 2011. The refuges employed more than 41,000, up 18 percent from 2011, and generated $1.1 billion in employment income, up 22 percent.
A national survey published every five years by the Fish and Wildlife Service found that in 2016, more than 103 million Americans, or 40 percent of the U.S. population age 16 and older, pursued wildlife-related outdoor recreation in 2016 and spent nearly $156.9 billion.