Jetskis or Field Guides?

I love the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation as much for its little absurdities as I do for the very important ammunition it provides to the fight for conservation. I just received an Addendum to the 2006 report, and while I haven’t had a chance to read through it yet, a couple of things leap off the page.

Would you have guessed that the mining industry employs more than 2,000 people for wildlife watching?

And would you have imagined that wildlife watchers spend more than 40 times as much on off-road vehicles as on maps and field guides?

Maybe I misunderstood.