Dohmen Family Foundation of Milwaukee Makes Gift to ICF

October 22, 2007

ICF to Build New Crane Exhibits and Expand Conservation Programs in Africa for Cranes and Wetlands

The Dohmen Family Foundation of Milwaukee, led by Bob Dohmen, Chairman of The F. Dohmen Company, recently committed $1.5 million to the International Crane Foundation (ICF) to promote and protect the cranes unique to Africa. The gift will help build new exhibits for the four species of African cranes on display at ICF’s world headquarters near Baraboo, Wisconsin, and will help ICF expand conservation programs in Africa to protect wild cranes and their natural habitats.

The Dohmen Family Foundation, established through the estate of fourth-generation Milwaukee businessman, Fred Dohmen, made the gift in memory of the family’s late patriarch. Bob Dohmen, Fred’s son and ICF Director, shared that “the gift was very meaningful to the family—it was made to honor a wonderful man who was passionate about adventure, Africa, cranes and conservation.” Inspired by explorers Martin and Osa Johnson, the Dohmen Family visited Africa in the early 1970s where they were forever changed by the continent’s rich natural beauty and diversity.

The gift will allow ICF to construct new, more natural exhibits to display its Blue, Wattled, Grey Crowned, and Black Crowned Cranes of Africa. The exhibits will emphasize the cranes’ stories—their cultural and ecological significance and the strategies that have led to their successful protection. ICF hopes to open the exhibits in the summer of 2009.

Additionally, through this gift, ICF will expand its on-the-ground conservation programs in Africa to protect cranes and the natural habitats on which they depend. These activities include investigating the trade (illegal trafficking) of cranes and developing strategies to abate these threats; establishing conservation management plans for the African Wattled, Grey Crowned, and Black Crowned Cranes; and building the capacity of partners, local communities and governments to protect cranes and their habitats. ICF believes these actions are essential to effectively protecting Africa’s cranes and the threatened places needed for their survival. The gift is part of a larger $2.1 million campaign—Protecting the Cranes and Wetlands of Africa and Beyond—that includes raising funds to support ICF’s diverse conservation efforts aimed at protecting cranes, natural habitats, and advancing science and conservation education around the world. 

Co-founded by Dr. George Archibald in 1973, ICF works worldwide to protect cranes and the wetlands, grasslands and other ecosystems on which they depend. ICF works on four continents in over 30 countries important for cranes and is best known for its celebrated work to restore a migrating population of the endangered Whooping Crane in the eastern United States. For five consecutive years, ICF has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of charities. Our headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin, are open annually to the public from April 15 to October 31 and showcase the world’s only complete collection of the 15 cranes species. Our campus offers visitors a unique opportunity to learn about cranes and their fragile ecosystems through live crane exhibits, an interactive education center, guided and self guided tours, and nature trails winding through a restored Wisconsin landscape. To learn more, visit www.savingcranes.org

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