With these yearly arrivals, business booms. But it's not just the birds that people come to see. There are at least 300 species of butterfly and 1,200 different kinds of plants in the area. About 200,000 people visit the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge each year, and 40 to 50 percent of them are Winter Texans, said Dr. Gary Stolz, program manager for public use at the South Texas National Wildlife Refuge Center. Just as the birds relax in their habitat, people visit the refuge to get back to nature and to use the serene atmosphere as rejuvenation and stress relief, Stolz said.
Tourism is right here.
He said birding and the wildlife refuge will remain profitable if people respect and care for it. If not, he said, the industry will be endangered. As birding and other ecotourism activities like hunting continue to grow, the Valley stands to profit.