According to a recent report by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service one out of every five (or more than 48 million) Americans is now considered a birdwatcher. A birdwatcher is defined as someone who has "taken a trip one mile or more from home" to birdwatch, or actively "tried to observe birds around the home". Tennessee ranks 8th among the states, with 31 percent of its population engaging to some extent in birdwatching.
Birders contributed $36 billion to the U. S. economy in 2006, the most recent year with figures, spending almost $7 billion on "wildlife watching equipment", $8.2 billion on "special equipment" purchases like boats, campers, trucks, and cabins, and over $12 billion on trip related expenses like food, lodging, and transportation.
While hunters are required to buy licenses and pay $15 annually for a Federal Duck Stamp, birdwatchers operate permit- and license-free. The USFWS is pushing to market duck stamps to non-hunters and says many birders have been receptive. The Federal Duck Stamps have generated more than $750 million since 1934, money that has been used to help conserve more than 5.3 million acres of waterfowl habitat in the United States. "That means as much to a lot of birdwatchers as it does to hunters", says the USFWS's Alicia King.
For information about birdwatching in the Southern Cumberlands and around the Chattanooga area, visit the website for the Chattanooga chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society at www.chattanoogatos.org. Watch the Nickajack Naturalist over the coming months for features on the best locations for birding in the heart of the Southern Cumberlands.