Small sight—Big might: Economic impact of bird tourism shows opportunities for rural communities and biodiversity conservation

The Northwestern Interior Forest Bird Conservation Region we call Interior region. The forested lowlands and uplands of the Interior region are breeding grounds for shorebirds like the Greater (Tringa melanoleuca) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), Solitary (Tringa soli- taria), and Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius). Alpine habitats support American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) and Surfbirds (Calidris virgate) [15]. A large part of this region is also known as Alaska’s Railbelt region which is the only region in Alaska that is con- nected by roads providing the transportation infrastructure for accessing Important Bird Areas such as Denali National Park and Preserve (Fig 2). It also forms the state’s population and economic center with Alaska’s largest cities Anchorage and Fairbanks and has the most diversified economy including oil and gas, tourism, mining, and transportation [26]. Further, the Arctic Plains and Mountains Bird Conservation Region we call Arctic Plains. This region is dominated by waterfowl and shorebirds where the most abundant species along the coastal plain include Northern Pintails (Anas acuta), King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis), Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), Sandpipers, and Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) [15]. Communities in this region are not connected to roads and local economies are mixed cash-subsistence economies. This region includes Utqiag˙vik, a known birding destina- tion for the large congregations of eiders that occur in the region (Fig 2). The region also

includes Alaska’s North Slope where most of Alaska’s petroleum resources are being developed along the coastal plain overlapping with Important Bird Areas (Fig 2). The oil and gas industry includes North America’s largest oil field, the Prudhoe Bay oil fields which are connected to Alaska’s Railbelt by the Dalton Highway [27]. Fig 1. NABCI bird conservation regions used for economic analysis with borough and census area outlines. Reprinted from U.S. NABCI (2020) under a CC BY license, with permission from NABCI, original copyright 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268594.g001 PLOS ONE Economic impact of bird tourism in Alaska PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268594 July 6, 2022 4 / 18