Beyond binoculars: Increasing relevancy of state fish and wildlife agencies by investigating facilitators of and participation in wildlife viewing

Abstract

In 2022, more than half of all Americans participated in wildlife viewing (intentionally observing, feeding, or photographing wildlife, traveling to parks or natural areas to observe, view or photograph wildlife, or maintaining plantings for the benefit of wildlife). Historically in the U.S., management of wildlife-related recreation has focused on hunting and fishing, with wildlife viewing rapidly emerging as a new opportunity for state fish and wildlife agencies to enhance their relevancy, especially with traditionally under-represented audiences, such as people with disabilities. However, little is known about facilitators of participation in wildlife viewing, especially when compared to hunting and fishing. This dissertation investigates wildlife viewers using a mixed-methods approach. First, we investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on participation in wildlife viewing. We applied the Hunter Retention and Recruitment framework from the hunting literature to classify wildlife viewers into four groups: recruited, retained, reactivated, and churned. We found that retained wildlife viewers generally reported higher levels of identify as a wildlife viewer and support from family in wildlife viewing during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examined the "multidimensionality" of wildlife-related recreation, specifically the extent to which wildlife viewers hunt and or fish in addition to wildlife viewing. We found that the wildlife viewers who also participated in hunting and/or fishing were more specialized than those who wildlife view only. This has promising implications for management and relevancy. As state agencies expand to include wildlife viewing as a program focus, they are not leaving all their traditional constituents behind, rather they are supporting them in a different way. Next, we investigated how to supports birders with disabilities and found that birders with disabilities were more limited by barriers to wildlife. viewing than birders without disabilities. We also found that birders with and without disabilities expressed some similar interest in certain programs or services from their state agencies, which suggests that both groups will benefit from management decisions that benefit those with disabilities. Finally, we used focus groups with disabled and neurodivergent wildlife viewers to investigate intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural facilitators to wildlife viewing. When investigating multiple types of interpersonal and structural facilitators we found an overwhelming interest in more detailed information about wildlife viewing locations and programs. We recommend providing detailed information to wildlife viewers as a key step for state agencies to support these audiences. Further, given that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) encourages programs to be accessible, providing such detailed information supports meeting the requirements of the ADA. In this dissertation we have applied existing frameworks or theories in new ways –offering new avenues and questions for future research. These new frameworks for understanding and analyzing participation in wildlife viewing led to recommendations for increasing accessibility and inclusion in wildlife viewing. Throughout this process, we worked closely with state fish and wildlife agencies and generated recommendations that can be implemented in their management. This will help agencies expand their relevancy to new and potentially underserved audiences.