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Use this link to request more information on Birding and Wildlife Watching Trail Development
Contact us about doing
a similar study for you by calling Ted Eubanks
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Nurturing Economic Conservation Efforts Along the Texas Coast The Development of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail Ted Lee Eubanks, President
Summary The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail (GTCBT) has been developed to help birders find the great avian resources along the Texas coast, and to ensure that the Texas coastal birding experience is rich and varied. Private citizens, landholders, conservation groups, businesses, governmental agencies, and communities have worked together to build this natural promenade. While Texas is famed for its birds, Texans are known for their hospitality. On the Trail, birders benefit from the union of the two. Originally conceived by Ted Eubanks of Fermata Inc., and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD,) the GTCBT represents economic conservation at its most fundamental level. By inviting tourists to experience the Texas coast and its splendid array of birds, the GTCBT is attracting much-needed economic contributions to depressed Texas coastal communities. By doing so, the resource upon which the recreation (birding) depends (the birds themselves) is imbued with a value that previously had been absent. Economic conservation offers one way to allow conservation to pay for itself. The GTCBT represents a splendid example of this philosophy in action. Introduction The Texas coast is replete with natural resources, particularly birds. Over 600 species of birds have been seen in Texas, more than any state in the U.S. Most of these species reside or migrate along the coast, thereby offering birders unparalleled opportunities to see an impressive variety of birds within a relatively consolidated area. Historically, most birding destinations along the Texas coast functioned independently. Often, the residents of communities known among birders as desirable destinations were unaware of the economic contributions these travelers were conveying to their areas. In addition, birding tourists (avitourists) would traditionally visit only a few well-known sites; therefore, this selectivity limited the economic impacts of this form of tourism to a mere handful of communities. The GTCBT has been developed with the hope of:
The project sponsors were the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Through the participation of these two agencies, Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) funds were secured which eventually totaled $1.5 million. Fermata Inc. served as the coordinating contractor for the project. Additional contractors (engineering, graphic design, illustration, printing) were added as needed to the project team coordinated by Fermata Inc. Obstacles to implementing the GTCBT included (1) funding, (2) logistics, and (3) overcoming an innate resistance among rural communities to regional planning. The first two hurdles were overcome through ISTEA funding and a well-organized work plan. The latter, however, proved to be a more difficult challenge. As with most rural regions, a "high school football" mentality taints most attempts at regional coordination along the Texas coast. Only as the communities began to see that "the sum of the parts would be greater than the whole" did they begin to adopt a broader perspective. Overview The ISTEA enhancement program (now replaced by TEA-21) had been designed to take advantage of the existing federally supported highway system to improve the lives of residents in communities along that roadway network. A percentage of federal highway funds appropriated to the states were tagged for the enhancement program. Goals of the enhancement program included economic development and conservation (environmental improvements). Each state received the funds in the form of a block grant, and dispersed these funds to projects through a variety of methods (in other words, each state chose its own means and methods for distributing the funds). In Texas, TxDOT adopted a competitive process through which communities and other public entities could submit proposals for funding consideration. The ISTEA funds were then distributed in three separate calls. The first phase of the GTCBT (the central Texas coast) received funding in the first round, and the second phase (the upper and lower coast) received funding in the third round. Although project sponsors were required by ISTEA to provide a 20% match for the federal funds received, TxDOT provided the 20% match for the GTCBT (one of the few ISTEA projects in Texas so funded). In addition, the GTCBT represented the only ISTEA project in Texas that involved multiple TxDOT districts (TxDOT has divided Texas into several administrative districts). The original concept of the GTCBT changed little from conception to implementation. Through a public nomination process, sites were identified along the Texas coast as candidates for inclusion in the GTCBT. Public hearings were held in each of the TxDOT districts containing sites along the coast. As nominations were received, Fermata Inc. personnel inspected each site as to its appropriateness for inclusion in the GTCBT. Criteria for inclusion were:
The selected sites were then organized into a cohesive Trail that paralleled the Texas coast. By using a series of loops, the Trail was designed to veer periodically into the interior to access unique habitats and communities. In addition, each loop represented a trip of short duration (a long weekend,) so local travelers could take advantage of the Trail without struggling with choosing among over 300 separate locations. The products funded by ISTEA in this project included the following:
As the Trail project progressed, the public became increasingly interested in becoming involved. While implementing the first phase of the project (the central coast,) the communities involved were somewhat unsure as to how the Trail might impact them (economically and environmentally). However, by the time to implement the final phase of the Trail, the publicity associated with the Trail had risen to a fever pitch and communities along the new sections of the Trail became far more insistent that they be included. As a result, the time associated with public outreach and communication grew along with the Trail. While certainly a drain upon resources, in the end the increased interest in the project represented a significant achievement — the heightened awareness among Texas coastal communities, particularly those in isolated rural settings, as to the value of these nature resources and the need to conserve these irreplaceable assets for the future.
Results In relationship to the original goals of the project, the GTCBT has been an unmitigated success. First, Texas is now recognized as a premier destination for birders throughout the U.S. Maps have been distributed to travelers from every state in the U.S. and several foreign countries. Communities have continued to invest in improving sites for birders, including purchasing habitat for additional destinations. Second, the GTCBT is now viewed as a cohesive unit, and rural communities that otherwise would not have the funds to promote their destinations are now profiting from their association with this larger marketing platform. Third, communities along the Texas coast that had previously taken their nature resources for granted are now becoming increasingly aware of the value of the resources. Birding is now viewed as an important industry, and the resource upon which the industry depends (the birds themselves) is seen as worthy of protection. In addition, Fermata Inc. and the GTCBT have spawned similar efforts in other states. Fermata Inc. is beginning to develop a similar birding trail in Virginia that will hopefully extend from New Jersey to South Carolina. California, Florida, the upper Mississippi River states, Louisiana, Ohio, New York and Connecticut are in various stages of planning and implementing similar trails. In recent months, our firm has been engaged in discussions with Pronatura about the possibility of extending the GTCBT south into northeastern Mexico. In truth, the development of such interpretive trails is only in its infancy, and in the coming years, Fermata Inc., in conjunction with American Nature Trails, Inc will be involved in the creation of a broad range of nature trails not limited to birds (for example, geological or botanical trails). Evaluation The evaluation of nature tourism projects is without a doubt the most difficult and least understood element in the process. The GTCBT has been assessed utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitatively, the most important tool for assessment is the feedback received both from users of the Trail as well as the communities associated with the project. In this way, the initial efforts to involve the public in the project benefited the program after its implementation in providing a conduit and common language for communicating the successes and failures of the effort. The addition of Trail sites, the establishment of new nature festivals, the publishing of additional maps for specific areas and communities, and the improvement of sites for nature observation and study are all indicators of the success of the GTCBT. Media throughout the country have covered the GTCBT, and a public television program, now in its second year, is being produced entitled "On the Birding Trail." The first map distributed, the central coast, is now in its second printing (the first 100,000 maps were distributed within 14 months of their introduction). Communities are now using the fact that birding trail sites are located nearby in their tourism promotional materials. As for a more formal quantitative analysis, each map contains a "blow-in" card for subscribing to the GTCBT mailing list. Out of the first 100,000 maps distributed, over 4000 cards were returned. Our firm has recently completed a detailed survey of these respondents. Although the survey results in their entirety are far too extensive to publish here, a few of the important findings are as follows: Travelers on the GTCBT devoted an average of 31.23 days per year to birding on the GTCBT. Their most recent trip lasted 8.71 days and 7.55 nights, and their travel-related expenditures totaled $981.99 per person ($683.91 within the region, $197.89 within Texas but out of the region, and an additional $100.19 out of state). Therefore GTCBT travelers averaged expenditures of $78.52 per person, per day, within the region. Surprisingly, only 4.6% of these travelers resided within the region. If previous trip expenditures were consistent with their most recent visit (as described in their survey responses), then GTCBT travelers averaged $2,452.18 in direct expenditures along the GTCBT during the past 12 months. In addition to direct expenditures, however, there are economic impacts that are considered to be "indirect" and "induced," and these impacts are characteristically expressed as multipliers of the direct travel expenditures. Walsh (1984) found that regional multipliers typically averaged 2.0 and ranged generally between 1.5 and 2.5 in the United States. The sum of the direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts is known as the Total Gross Output (TGO). Therefore, the annual TGO of an average GTCBT traveler, using the Walsh average multiplier of 2, was $4,904.36 for the previous year. In attempting to measure the support of the public for wildlife agency efforts such as the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, we asked the following question: "Projects such as the GTCBT are provided by TPWD as a public service. How important is it that TPWD continue to provide such programs and services (please circle only one)?"
A birding trail offers the opportunity to combine conservation and economic development. In a sense, this birding trail provides a platform for developing additional conservation and economic development initiatives. Since the creation of the GTCBT, TPWD has begun two associated projects. The Great Texas Birding Classic, held each spring, is a birding competition that is conducted over a week along the GTCBT (one day for each section of the Trail, with rest days between). Associated businesses and firms sponsor each competing team. The winning teams, rather than receiving the funds raised by the competition, decide which bird conservation projects in Texas should receive funding from the Classic. The Classic has contributed $50,000 each of the past two years to bird conservation projects in Texas, and it is anticipated that next year (2000) that contribution will increase to $100,000. In addition, the Trail has generated interest in developing an interpretive center for birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. One of the poorest regions in the U.S., this center will attract tourists from around the world, and bring needed economic contributions to these struggling communities. Convinced of the importance of nature tourism in south Texas, the Texas Legislature, in its most recent session, appropriated $7 million for the construction of this interpretive center. Lessons Learned Five years, 300 sites, hundreds of communities, organizations, landowners, and individuals later, there have been important lessons learned. Most important of these is the absolute need for an organized, succinct, and well-defined strategic plan. The formulation of such an extensive and detailed project demands a disciplined approach. In truth, as the GTCBT developed through its three phases, each phase became increasingly easier to implement, even though the number of sites, partners, and specific enhancements increased. Nothing is so important as a well-organized template for action. The close relationship between the consulting firm (Fermata Inc.,) TPWD, TxDOT, and the local communities proved to be a critical element as the project invariably reached certain impasses. The use of a consulting firm allowed the initiative to operate, when necessary, outside of the stifling environment that a governmental agency or not-for-profit often represents. In addition, the use of an outside firm avoided being limited to staff that may or may not have experience in this field. Each of the entities had their own particular skills and talents, and the GTCBT represents the marriage of the best of both the public and private sectors. The success of the GTCBT caught everyone involved by surprise. Although we certainly expected the Trail to be popular, nothing led us to anticipate that the public would respond so positively. As a result, staff within the agencies has been stressed by constant requests for maps, demands to be involved in revised versions of the maps, and questions from the press as to the nature and value of the project. In other words, never underestimate the potential for success! Finally, the GTCBT represents a delicate balance between the conservation needs along the Texas coast, and the demands and desires of the human population that resides there. Economic sustainability and wildlife conservation are inextricably intertwined. Projects such as the GTCBT respect that essential relationship between man and the environment. For More Information The Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail is among the 110 ISTEA projects chosen from throughout the U.S. as a model for how transportation enhancement funds may be effectively used. A report on the Trail, as well as on the other model projects, may be found at the following URL: http://www.transact.org/ References Walsh, R.G. (1984). Recreation economic decisions. Ft. Collins, CO: Dept. of Agriculture and Natural Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Chapter 12, 609 pages.
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