Hi,

I was at the Magee Marsh boardwalk for about 6 hours today.  While I did
not do any precise counts of people or cars, I was rather surprised at the
low numbers of people given the date and that today is the start of the
festival, compared to the numbers used in the recent economic impact study.

I would roughly estimate there were between 200 and 300 people on the
boardwalk at peak.  When looking at vehicle occupancy I found most had 1 or
2 people.  This is consistent with my earlier conclusion that days with
2000 plus attendance occur only a few days a year.

A further observation, While the parking lot did have some fuel efficient
vehicles, SUVs and min vans were predominant.  I would imagine this
coincides with the income distribution described in the economic impact
study.  It would seem birders can afford low gas mileage.  I will not draw
any conclusions about their concern for carbon emissions.

A final observation.  There was a noticeable decline in general courtesy in
the form of LOUD TALKING by birders and one guide.  A few years ago you
would only hear birds with hundreds of people on the boardwalk today, Even
with the low attendance, human voices were inescapable.

Haans Petruschke
Kirtland

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