The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is planning to implement a hunting season on the eastern population of sandhill cranes in December of this year. The hunt proposal was approved in a June 3rd vote held by the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission.
On Wednesday of next week, June 15th, the regulation will be filed with Kentucky legislators, the next step in the approval process. Eastern sandhill crane advocates are asking that everyone opposed to the hunting of the eastern population of sandhill cranes send letters to Governor Steve Beshere prior to June 15 requesting that he withdraw the plan. It will be beneficial to also copy your letter to the Secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, Marcheta Sparrow. (email links provided below)
Even if you are not a resident of the state of Kentucky, your voice in opposition to this hunt is important. The eastern population of greater sandhill cranes has only recently recovered from the brink of extinction in the 1930's and has now been protected for nearly 100 years. There is no "wildlife management" reason for this hunt. If it goes forward, it will serve a small number of hunters who desire a new hunting opportunity. On the other hand, population modeling for the eastern population does not currently exist, and harm to the population can result.
Please join us in voicing your opposition to this hunting season. We are hunters and non-hunters who value sandhill cranes for their majesty, as watchable wildlife, and as ambassadors for successful conservation efforts.
Please visit the Kentucky Sandhill Crane Coalitions
Call to Action page for more details about the Kentucky legislative committee and the schedule of events for this hunt proposal.
For the history of the sandhill crane hunt issue in the east, visit
Sandhill Crane Hunting on this blog.
Vickie, I just wrote more than a few lines to the Ky Gov. and yet I feel this shall fall on deaf ears, it is still worth the try~ Thank you for the leadership role you take on with these issues.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary. I believe we are at a crossroad here. Sandhill cranes have brought to light the way in which we make wildlife management decisions, a method that was developed when wildlife consumption was a primary ethic and numbers ecology worked to protect declining species. Our environment and our ethics have changed. Our wild species need more protections than simple numbers afford.
ReplyDeleteI first saw sand cranes on a Michigan golf course last year. They were there again this week. As a UK citizen visiting the USA I can see o excuse for exposing such lovely birds to hunters.
ReplyDeleteAs an avid hunter,sportsman and conservationist(I understand some does not think that those work together). I have a couple of questions, what proof is available that the survey(s)are so defective? I would like to see the information and the source that proves these surveys inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteSecondly how can the claim be made that wildlife is declining when you post that they have been brought back from the brink of extiction?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and questions. I am not one of those people who thinks conservation and hunting are mutually exclusive. In fact, I know many hunters who are avid conservationists and I appreciate and respect this common ground, as well as, their historical contributions to conservation.
There are two documents that I am using for my information about the eastern population survey methods that can be found online:
D. J. Case and Associates. 2009. Priority Information needs for Sandhill cranes: A Funding Strategy. 13 pp. http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/NewReportsPublications/Research/WMGBMR/Priority_Information_Needs_for_Sandhill_Cranes_10-09-09_FINAL.pdf
Van Horn, et. al. 2010. Management Plan for the Eastern Population of Sandhill Cranes. 34 pp.
http://media.timesfreepress.com/docs/2010/09/Sandhill_EP_plan_FINALFeb2010.pdf
A summary of the survey problems can be found on my blog: http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/p/request-for-revision-of-management-plan.html
I am also referencing unpublished comments on the Kentucky hunt proposal by Jeb Barzen, Director of Field Ecology, International Crane Foundation (ICF). ICF is an impartial conservation organization that neither endorses nor opposes hunting, but provides beneficial research to aid in good decision making. This information was provided to the Commonwealth of Kentucky prior to their recent decision. Here is the portion on breeding ecology:
“No population modeling has yet been done for the Eastern Population of Sandhill Cranes (EP). The harvest rate proposed for the Commonwealth of Kentucky alone could consume a substantial portion of the productivity of the breeding crane population in the Upper Midwest. Data from one study in Wisconsin suggests that, in the last decade an average of one in three nests fledged a chick each year. If this rate of productivity is comparable for the EP as a whole, 1500 nesting crane territories would be needed to produce the cranes proposed for harvest in Kentucky. In addition, the fledging rate is declining so the reproduction rate seen in most recent years might be more relevant. In 2009 and 2010, approximately one in five nests fledged a chick to migration. Given this 18% fledging to migration rate, a harvest and crippling removal of 480 birds would require 2,800 nests to replace the hunting loss. Whether 1500 or 2800 nests, this represents a significant percentage of nesting pairs in Wisconsin and Michigan, likely the primary breeding areas for Sandhill Cranes that migrate through Kentucky.”
In additional, the Barzen document describes the change in survey methods that causes the appearance of population increases which actually reflect improved surveying. At the present, the EP Management Plan allows for a 50% reduction in this population.
I can send this document to you if desire. Thank you for your interest!