The beauty of nature is one of the reasons many people enjoy their ranch life. Every day they get to enjoy scenic vistas filled with colorful plants and flowers and intriguing birds, insects and wildlife.

Many of those scenes are perfect “photo opps” for budding and professional photographers – and a Texas-based nonprofit organization called the Images for Conservation Fund (ICF) is working to help landowners capitalize on this extra asset on their land.

“Many of us take for granted what our ranches have to offer,” says Gail Hoffman, who serves as executive director of ICF. She tells the story of the first time a photographer from Colorado visited the Texas ranch she and her husband Bruce own and operate with their son. “…he had his nose to the ground photographing the bugs, the flowers, and the butterflies the minute he came through the gate. It was the stuff we took for granted everyday…it was a very enlightening experience.”

And it’s an experience many photographers – from amateurs to professionals – are willing to pay for, which creates an opportunity for landowners and their communities to tap a new revenue stream from the nature photo tourism industry. Here Hoffman shares more about growing the field of nature photography.

How much value can nature photo tourism add to a ranch?
Sally Crofutt with the Fennessey Ranch at Bayside, TX, reports that nature tourism has been a very viable asset for Fennessey Ranch. She reveals, “We made more money from photography last year than we made from cattle. Of course we need every penny of both enterprises!”

Crofutt acknowledges that hosting nature photographers requires some extra effort, planning and communication, but that it can be a lot of fun. And, most importantly she says that income returning to real, working ranches is the great asset of nature photography.
“Any and all ranch revenue streams that keep the original owner on the land are important for our rural communities,” Crofutt points out, and adds, “Rural economies count on residents on the land. Those are the people who send their kids to school and use the local economy – and they are also some of the best stewards of the land.”

What other benefits come from focusing on nature photography?
Hoffman says an additional, perhaps even more important, benefit is the emphasis on conservation. “As landowners recognize the value of wildlife habitat through nature photo tourism, there is an incentive to keep native landscapes intact,” explains Hoffman.

With 90% of the land in the Western Hemisphere privately owned, private landowners are key to preserving more than 90% of all wildlife species for future generations.

Thus, Hoffman explains that the goal of ICF is to create a continual circle where conservation efforts produce wildlife which attracts photographers which creates revenue and puts emphasis back on the value of conservation.

How is ICF helping ranchers tap the nature photo tourism industry?
Every two years the ICF hosts the Pro-Tour of Nature Photography tournament – which uses an economic development model patterned after the Professional Golf Association Tours. Specifically, a competition is held for professionals, but after the competition, an infrastructure is left in place for the community to attract and generate a continuing revenue stream from other semi-pros and amateurs in the sport.

The first Pro-Tour of Nature Photography was held in 2006 in the Texas Hill Country, followed by a second tournament in 2008 in the Texas Coastal Bend region, and the 2010 event was held in the Laredo Borderlands.

How does the contest work?
The event pairs 20 landowners from the pre-selected, multi-county area with 20 professional nature photographers for a world-class tournament that takes place over a one month period. An elite judging panel then selects the winning photographs in specific categories, and prize money – $180,000 for the contest in 2010 – is split between the photographer-landowner teams.

While the tournament attracts several renowned professional nature photographers and a large sum for prize money, King Ranch Institute executive director Barry Dunn points out that the real value of the Pro-Tour is in what it leaves behind.

Dunn explains, “Each of the tours leaves in place 20 ranches with photography blinds in place and ready to host amateur photographers …that infrastructure and the ability to develop a nature photography or ecotourism enterprise is what makes this a great economic development model.”

Likewise, Hoffman says, “The Pro-Tour has definitely raised the awareness among landowners of the value of conservation and the potential for nature photo tourism.” Several of the past participating ranches have now actively established photo ecotourism businesses.

What’s the future for nature photo tourism?
Looking ahead, ICF aims to grow the nature photo tourism industry on private lands from a $2 billion/year industry to a $100 billion industry over the next 25 years. They hope to do this through the promotion of conservation, the education of landowners and photographers, and development of regional organizations and photography competitions – perhaps even a Pro-Tour of the Western Hemisphere. Each of these efforts would help put a focus on the importance of conservation and wildlife – and also build the infrastructure across the country for individual ranchers to develop their own photo tourism enterprise as an alternative revenue source for their ranches.

According to the ICF website, the organization’s mission will have been accomplished when “private landowners, nature photographers and country, state and city tourism entities throughout the Western Hemisphere have joined together to give an economic and visual voice to wildlife, landscapes, plants and scenic views...and a thriving private lands Nature Photo Tourism Industry exists worldwide.”