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 ← Sandhill Crane Conservation
In early February 2012 a state-wide discussion was re-ignited after a bill proposing a regulated Sandhill Crane hunt in Wisconsin was introduced. The bill was not voted on during the state spring 2012 legislative session, but the discussion continues in forums like the annual spring Conservation Congress Meetings.
On April 9th, the state-wide Conservation Congress Meetings and Department of Natural Resources Spring Wildlife and Fisheries Informational Hearings were held and participants voted on whether or not a Sandhill Crane hunt should be established. The results of the 2012 meetings were 2,559 in favor and 1,064 opposed to a Wisconsin Sandhill Crane hunt (view the full Questionnaire discussed at the meetings). It is important to remember that these results are advisory, and the establishment of Sandhill Crane hunting in Wisconsin would require new legislation.
A Sandhill Crane Hunt in Wisconsin Is Not a Solution to Crop Damage
As this discussion continues, it is critical that people understand that hunting will not help solve crop damage (caused when cranes, and other wildlife, feed on recently planted corn kernels in the spring). Solutions to crop damage caused by cranes are working in the marketplace right now, without hunting.
In 2006, ICF developed an effective alternative that stops crop damage. Avipel®(with active ingredient, a plant-based anthraquinone) is a deterrent that can be applied to corn before it is planted. Treated kernels are not consumed by cranes (the kernels taste bad to the cranes), but the cranes continue feeding in the field on other food items, such as insects and small mammals. Compared to the overall cost of planting corn, this deterrent is inexpensive. In 2011, over 76,000 acres of Wisconsin corn were treated with Avipel. The approximate cost of this treatment is $5-7/acre, so the total cost in 2011 to farmers to use this effective solution to crop damage was estimated to be $400,000-500,000. The acreage of treated corn has grown each year since 2006, and is likely to continue to increase in future years, so the total cost of managing crane crop damage will also continue to rise. To learn more, download the fact sheet "Protect your corn from cranes," a joint publication of ICF and the University of Wisconsin–Madison/University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Learn more about this research and the use of Avipel® to stop crop damage.
For more information on the Sandhill Crane hunting issue, please contact:
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Migratory Game Bird Ecologist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
608-266-8841
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2nd Vice President, Wisconsin Audubon Council Executive Secretary,
Madison Audubon Society
(608) 255-BIRD (2473)
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Learn more about the issue:
View the WISC-TV/Channel 3 (Madison, Wis.) news story(4/10/12) on the state-wide Conservation Congress meetings in April 2012 and public discussion of the Sandhill Crane hunt proposal.
What is the role of ICF's research in the discussion of the Sandhill Crane hunting proposal? Listen to the discussion with ICF staff on Wisconsin Public Radio's The Larry Meiller Show (2/22/12)
ICF was featured in a WISC-TV/Channel 3 (Madison, Wis.) news story (2/2/12) on the proposed Wisconsin Sandhill Crane hunt. Click here to view the story
Read more about Sandhill Crane conservation in the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine (October 2011): Wildness incarnate: Sandhill cranes are a conservation success
ICF was asked by conservation organizations in Kentucky to provide comments to the Commonwealth of Kentucky as they considered enacting a Sandhill Crane hunt in the state in 2011. Read the comments that ICF submitted:
 Kentucky Sandhill Crane Hunt Assessment.pdf (2011)
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources requested clarification on some issues as they considered the hunting season. Following is the Department’s request for clarification and ICF’s response:
Kentucky DFWR Request for Clarification.pdf (2011)
ICF Clarification.pdf (2011)
Federal and state conservation agencies have created a management plan for the Eastern Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes that identifies the framework for hunting in this population:
Management Plan for the Eastern Population of Sandhill Cranes (2010)
Articles from The ICF Bugle:
A Crane Hunt? (2010-2011)
A Crane Hunt for Wisconsin? (1997)
Cranes on the Farm (1996)
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