Bird Watching As Ohio Money Maker

By Associated Press
Published: March 14, 2010

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Starting this spring, Philip Xie will study the spending habits of bird-watchers along Lake Erie. The associate professor of recreation and tourism at Bowling Green
State University plans to collect data on the bird-watchers at six prime birding spots from Oak Openings Metro Park near Toledo to Conneaut Harbor.

Based on a survey in 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated last year that 2.4 million people in Ohio watched birds. The survey showed that 3.5 million "wildlife-watchers" spent
nearly $2 billion on travel and equipment in the state.

Xie's survey seeks to update that data and narrow it to include only serious bird-watchers. It is funded through a $60,000 grant from the Ohio Sea Grant Program, a partnership between Ohio State
University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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