Gifford Pinchot

As part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) risk assessment of the Middle Platte River Watershed of Nebraska (Middle Platte), Fermata Inc. studied a variety of wildlife-associated activities and participants and estimated the economic value of such recreations to the region. By using a variety of data gathered by other researchers and us, the economic contributions of these outdoor recreations have been estimated. Although general in substance, these estimations add credence to the contention that the Middle Platte has values that expand and magnify the traditional characterizations of the region.

In 1996, 176,000 people (residents and non-residents) hunted in Nebraska. Of this total, 131,000 (74%) were residents, and 45,000 (26%) were non-residents. Of these hunters, 51,000 people 16 years or older engaged in migratory bird hunting in Nebraska. These hunters pursued their recreation a total of 398,000 days, for an average of 7.8 days per hunter per year. The annual total gross economic value of migratory bird hunting along the Middle Platte ranged between $14.3 million and $19.5 million.

In 1996, 247,000 freshwater anglers fished the waters of Nebraska. Of this total, 187,000 (76%) were residents, and 60,000 (24%) were non-residents. Freshwater anglers spent 3,004,000 days fishing in Nebraska in 1996, for an average of 12 days fishing per year. Of this total number of days fishing, 88% involved residents with the remaining 12% attributed to non-residents. The annual total gross economic value of fishing along the Middle Platte in Nebraska ranged between $28.4 million and $38.8 million.

Combining migratory bird hunting and freshwater fishing in the Middle Platte River of Nebraska (by both residents and non-residents), the annual total gross economic value to the region from these wildlife-associated activities in 1996 extended from a low estimate of $42.7 million to a high estimate of $58.3 million.

In the initial assessment of the economic value of wildlife watching along the Platte River (Eubanks et al., 1998), the survey results indicated that, depending on the economic multiplier used, the annual gross economic value of wildlife watching along the Middle Platte River ranged between $27.9 million and $57.5 million. Now, combined with the contributions of hunting and fishing, the cumulative annual gross economic value in 1996/1997 of wildlife-associated recreation in the region is projected to have ranged between $70.6 million and $115.8 million. Even at its most conservative estimate (with cautious estimates of participants, economic stimulation, and equipment-related investments), wildlife-associated recreation along the Middle Platte must be recognized as an industry of significant economic importance and potential.

The character, the very fiber of a state, is judged not simply by its people, but by how its people relate to and interact with their environment. Each is intertwined: farmer with soil, hunter with game, irrigator with water, camper with wilderness. The concept that the interests of man are divorced from the elements of nature is a misjudgment that has plagued humanity throughout its history.

For four years, our research firm has delved into the intricacies of one such relationship, that between the wildlife recreationist and nature as represented by the Middle Platte River in Nebraska. Wildlife viewers, nature photographers, waterfowl hunters, and freshwater anglers all throng to the Platte River to celebrate nature in a singular fashion. By doing so, these nature enthusiasts contribute to the economic well being of those who live along the River and depend on it for their sustenance.

Nature tourism is a valuable economic and conservation tool. Through nature tourism and recreation, communities and landowners are able to diversify their economic strategies. Through nature tourism and recreation, conservation is provided a means of paying for itself. No threat to anyone's status quo is embedded in these conclusions, only potential and opportunity. The sooner the various Nebraska Platte River interests place their biases, distrusts, and enmities aside, and accept the economic and conservation opportunities that are present before them, the sooner the Platte River and Nebraska will rise to its rightful recognition as one of America's natural treasures.

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