Fall 2004

Table of Contents

Building wildlife viewing opportunities for the future
by Dr. Jeff Koenings, WDFW Director

As a Washington resident you are blessed with many opportunities to enjoy wildlife, both at home and away . Our state’s varied ecosystems provide one of the richest and most diverse habitats in the nation, home to over 640 vertebrate species, including 365 bird species. This wealth in turn draws some 2.5 million individual viewers who spend nearly $1 billion here annually on wildlife watching.

With that level of interest and participation in wildlife watching, it’s important to plan for the future in order to create opportunities that serve viewers while protecting the animals they enjoy.

To achieve those dual aims, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) have created a joint strategic plan for development of wildlife-viewing tourism. Written at the request of the Legislature, the plan was recently presented to state lawmakers in its final form. The planning document was built on input from a conference last September which drew 150 participants representing a broad spectrum of wildlife tourism interests.

One aim of the strategic plan is to assist local communities, especially in the state’s rural areas, in developing sound wildlife tourism activities and events. Among other elements, the strategic plan proposes:

Developing wildlife viewing sites on WDFW lands and provide matching grants for local capital projects

Assigning an eastern Washington watchable wildlife biologist to coordinate efforts east of the
Cascades that protect wildlife

Developing a watchable wildlife site inventory database for inclusion in CTED’s www.experience
washington.com interactive map.

Marketing Washington as a national and international wildlife viewing destination

Of course, these kinds of efforts require new funding. With the current economy creating financial challenges on the state level and elsewhere, the best hope for realizing these efforts is likely to be through partnerships with other entities interested in promoting wildlife viewing.

Such partnerships could be fostered by creation of a Washington Watchable Wildlife Coalition. Such a group would help provide professional and financial assistance to communities and conduct
regular wildlife viewing conferences.

I’m excited about this new venture and hope that you, who are among Washington’s most avid wildlife viewers, will help us make some of these things happen.

The Strategic Plan for Development of Wildlife Viewing Activities in Washington can be seen on our website.