In the last newsletter, we told you about the launch of the Southeast Alaska Birding Trail mobile application—the on-your-phone version of the virtual birding trail showcasing nearly 200 birding sites among 18 communities throughout Southeast Alaska. This first-of-its-kind app spotlights Southeast Alaska since it’s home to the Tongass National Forest, the Mendenhall Wetlands Important Bird Area, Glacier Bay National Park, and the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, and boasts more than 350 bird species.
When the app launched last summer with a presentation by its developer and Audubon Alaska GIS Analyst Victoria (Tory) Elmore on June 3, 2023, at the Yakutat Tern Festival in Yakutat, Alaska, we promised more to come in 2024.
At the moment, in version 1.1, the app offers a downloadable mobile map package with birding site details and directions, species checklists, search features, community bookmarks, and more—all accessible regardless of internet connection or cell service if downloaded in advance. (If you’ve ever tried to spot a Queen Charlotte Goshawk on the remote Prince of Wales Island, you know that’s a big deal.)
Over the coming year, we’ll be working to further improve the app and to grow its usage within the region. We plan to expand partnerships with local Southeast Alaska businesses, including adventure guides and outfitters, to elevate the trail’s value. With the goal of fostering sustainable economic development built around the bioregion, we’re excited to highlight how birding tourism opportunities can strengthen economies while assisting in the shift away from resource extraction (i.e. mining, timber sales, etc.).
“If you look at the numbers, ecotourism—by many orders of magnitude—provides more jobs for Southeast Alaskans than the timber industry,” says Melanie Smith, Bird Migration Explorer Program Director at National Audubon Society, in a recent Audubon Magazine feature on the trail app. She helped create the trail in 2016 when she was with Audubon Alaska. “A birding trail is a contribution in that direction,” she says.
Those numbers—according to a study by Audubon Alaska and the University of Alaska Fairbanks—say that nearly 300,000 birdwatchers came to Southeast in 2016, spending $378 million and supporting more than 4,000 jobs. In 2023, Alaska’s cruise industry drew nearly 1.7 million passengers to the region with no signs of slowing down in 2024.
The Southeast Alaska Birding Trail mobile application is available on phones and tablets in the Apple Store for IOS or Google Play for Android.
