[Wales, Wisc.] A bipartisan committee of state legislators, along with agricultural, birding, and hunting representatives will meet this week to begin looking at the issues associated with Wisconsin’s rapidly growing sandhill crane population. The Legislative Council Study Committee on Sandhill Cranes has been tasked with coming up with approaches to manage the state’s sandhill crane population and reduce the crop damage they cause, including potentially seeking to establish a hunting season.
The first meeting will be held this Thursday, August 1 at the Horicon Marsh Education Center.
“It’s long past-time for Wisconsin to develop a management plan for our state’s sandhill growing crane population,” said Wisconsin Waterfowl Association Executive Director Bruce Ross. “We applaud the legislature for establishing this balanced committee to take an in-depth look and find solid, science based solutions.”
The Legislative Council Study Committee, chaired by State Representative Paul Tittl (R – Manitowoc) is made up of a bipartisan group of state legislators and members of the public representing agricultural, birding and hunting interests.
Wisconsin Waterfowl Association Vice President Todd Schaller has been named as one of the public members of the Study Committee. Before stepping in as the Vice President of the WWA, Schaller spent 31 years as a Conservation Warden with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources – including serving as the state’s Chief Warden.
“Science should be the basis for informed wildlife management decisions. This Study Committee is an opportunity to get past misleading or incomplete statements meant to obscure the fact that science supports a carefully managed sandhill crane hunt in Wisconsin,” said Ross.
Background:
The population of sandhill cranes that call Wisconsin home has grown significantly since it was nearly extirpated in the early 1900’s, when federal adoption of the international treaty on migratory birds placed the crane (et.al.) under federal protection and management. The growing prevalence of these birds brings both joy and costs to the state’s citizens and would benefit from effective state management planning like other natural resources.
The population of cranes that calls Wisconsin home has:
• doubled in the past decade,
• exceeded the US Fish and Wildlife Service upper population goal by nearly 100% 1and, • averaged 4.4% annual growth and 30% increase growth since 2017. 2
This rapidly growing sandhill crane population entertains wildlife viewers. But it has also brought expanding agricultural impacts and other negative interactions with humans.
• Agricultural depredation by these cranes was estimated by the Department of Natural Resources at greater than $1.6 million in 20223 (a likely underestimate).
• According to DNR data, agricultural producers subject to significant depredation may obtain kill permits from the federal government (US Department of Agriculture / US Fish and Wildlife Service), which resulted in over 1200 destroyed birds in 2022 4 (up 200% in the past decade).
• Agricultural use of a chemical deterrent (AVIPEL™) can mitigate depredation without harming the bird but is not free to farmers. This cost was estimated to be $2 million dollars in 2020, applied on only 200,000 acres. DATCP estimates as many as 3,000,000 acres could be subject to such depredation with the continued growth of the sandhill crane population.5
• There is no current financial relief for sandhill crane-caused crop depredation or farmer use of AVIPEL™.
• Additionally, like the societal impacts experienced with the growth of Canada goose populations, other negative human interactions will grow as the population of these large, sharp-beaked birds becomes denser across Wisconsin and expands into communities.
Prized as table fair, sandhills are currently hunted in 17 states and 3 provinces. As a migratory species, the US Fish and Wildlife Service manages crane harvest levels across the states based on annual population counts and the latest scientific research, like ducks and geese.
The Wisconsin Waterfowl Association is a state-based non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the conservation of Wisconsin’s waterfowl and wetland resources. Since 1984, WWA has worked to restore critical habitat in Wisconsin, educate the next generation of waterfowl hunters, and advocate for policies that protect Wisconsin’s resources and the rights of citizens to hunt.
