A special report on Montana's Economy and Businesses
| Outfitters hunting for new niche
Tourists want learning experience, not just a sporting adventure By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian Nonresident travelers spent more than $1.8 billion in Montana in 2003, making tourism the state’s second largest industry, according to the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana. Of that total, 4 percent, or more than $67 million, was spent on hiring local outfitters and guides, according to the UM institute. Traditionally, the services predominantly offered by Montana outfitters have catered to sportsmen and women, especially related to hunting and fishing, according to Smoke Elser, a retired Missoula outfitter and past president of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association. But now, says Elser, the state’s outfitting businesses are poised to make an even greater impact on the Montana economy because of increased worldwide interest in ecotourism, nature travel, and cultural and historical attractions. “We’re at a time in the cycle of recreation where the outfitting business will be a big part of the state of Montana,” says Elser, who conducts a renowned annual outfitting and stock-packing school in Missoula and serves as an outfitting consultant for the new Resort at Paws Up in the Blackfoot Valley.
“Now there’s more interest in seeing the rest of the state,” Elser says. “I think the parks, right now, are getting overcrowded.” The natural beauty, history and culture of other areas of the state are now being discovered by tourists, he says. But, he adds, those attractions have never been properly interpreted for nonresident travelers. “That’s what we’re here to do,” he says. “The public now is looking for added value in their travel. I think they want to have recreation and a good time. But they want to come home and say, ‘Here’s all the things we learned about elk, and grizzly bears, and cutthroat trout.’ They want to say ‘We got to see places that hardly anybody else has seen, and we had those places interpreted by an outfitter.’ ” Outfitters are uniquely qualified to present that kind of “added-value” educational experience for travelers, Elser adds. “Because we actually live our business,” he says. “We are in constant contact with the resource, with the outdoors, hunting and fishing. We don’t do it for eight hours a day. We do it 24-seven. And not just for a couple of years. Most outfitters are in it for a long time. Our lifestyle is what a lot of people are looking for.” The outfitting business also stands to prosper because of increased emphasis on family travel, according to Elser. “We interpret the resource as well as we build and connect families together,” he says. Family travel has increased in the United States as Americans attempt to return to core values in a changing society, according to the Montana Tourism and Recreation Strategic Plan for 2003 to 2007, which was sponsored by the state’s Department of Commerce Promotion Division. “I’ve had a lot of families over the years,” says Elser. “I’d have a guy come out for a hunting trip, and then here comes mom the next year for a summer recreation pack trip. Then here come the kids the next year and then the grandkids. I’ve often had three generations out for trips.” Outfitters’ typically long background in local culture and history also prepares them to interpret those aspects of Montana for tourists, according to Elser. Heritage and cultural travel is the largest and fastest growing segment of the travel industry worldwide, according to the state tourism and recreation strategic plan. The number of licensed big-game hunting outfitters in Montana has declined 10 percent in the past seven years, down from 486 in 1996 to 434 in 2003, according to Russ Copeland, executive director of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association in Helena. The organization’s 200 members are primarily big-game hunting outfitters. Copeland attributes the loss of numbers in the Montana hunting outfitting profession to several years’ decline in sales of nonresident hunting licenses. However, Copeland says, sales of the nonresident licenses rebounded this year, which he called a promising trend for the future of the outfitting business. Outfitters who offer recreational pack trips, river-float trips, and interpretive cultural tours are not required to be licensed by the state, according to Copeland. Only fishing and hunting outfitters are required to be licensed in Montana. Most Montana hunting outfitters have a strong agricultural background, Copeland says. “Big-game outfitting is mostly seasonal or part-time,” he says. “A lot of these guys are third- or fourth-generation ranchers. They’re trying to find creative ways to diversify and hang onto their property. But the most successful outfitters I know have diversified their operation by adding summer pack trips and fishing. And a lot of their income is spent in rural Montana, away from the urban centers. So outfitting is a very important source of income for rural Montana. And it helps keep the ranch in business, no doubt about it.” Hunting outfitter clients have a significantly greater impact on the state’s economy than nonresident hunters who don’t hire an outfitter, adds Copeland. The average nonguided nonresident hunter has an economic impact of $1,600 per trip to Montana, according to Department of Commerce figures, while the average guided nonresident hunter has an impact of $3,800 per trip. Like Elser, Copeland says increased interest in tourism centered on nature, culture and history could be a boon for Montana’s outfitting businesses. “A lot of outfitters have incorporated that into their business,” he says. “They understand local history and local flora and fauna. There’s a lot of potential there.” Still, he says, hunting and the hunting-outfitting business continues to be important to the state’s economy. Vacationers’ two primary purposes in visiting Montana in the fall, according to the Department of Commerce, are shopping and hunting. Almost half of all vacationers in 2001 went hunting, and 15 percent hired an outfitter. Fishing outfitters also have a substantial economic impact in Montana, and increased nonresident visits to the state for fishing indicate that impact could be growing. Since 1990, according to the Department of Commerce, nonresident Montana fishing license sales have increased by 19 percent. Use of state fishing access sites increased 30 percent from 1996 to 2000, representing an additional 1.1 million visitors. According to the Department of Commerce’s Montana Tourism and Recreation Strategic Plan, tourist destinations with water-recreation appeal saw large increases in visitors from 1995 to 2001, while visitation decreased at such destinations as Glacier and Yellowstone parks, the Museum of the Rockies and National Bison Range. The Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana has 635 members, according to Robin Cunningham, executive director of the association, and that number has remained fairly stable, growing by five to 10 new outfitters annually in recent years. The tremendous growth of the sport of fly-fishing following the Norman Maclean novel, and subsequent movie, “A River Runs Through It,” peaked around 1995, according to Cunningham. “We’re very conscious of the fact that ‘A River Runs Through It’ put Montana and fly-fishing on the map,” he said. The Montana fishing outfitting business has remained steady after the initial boom produced by the popular book and movie, Cunningham added. The Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana estimates that nonresident anglers who hire an outfitter directly contribute more than $10 million a year to Montana’s economy, including more than $1 million a year for clients of outfitters who guide fishing trips on the Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers. The world-class whitewater recreation available in western Montana – particularly at Alberton Gorge – provides business opportunities for several Missoula river-float outfitters that, in turn, boost the local economy. Outfitting, says Elser, is a passion for those in the profession. “It’s our heart, life and soul,” he says. “We don’t stay in the business because we’re making a lot of money, or because it’s easy, but because we love people and we love to be able to show them and share the backcountry. Because we’ve found such a sense of peace and understanding in these places, we want to be able to share it with other people. Our corporate offices are usually in our homes, in our kitchens, so for that reason we spend almost our entire income in the state and local towns.” Reporter Daryl Gadbow can be reached at 523-5264 or at dgadbow@missoulian.com. |
