{"id":3748,"date":"2024-09-03T13:39:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T18:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/?p=3748"},"modified":"2024-11-19T06:36:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T12:36:36","slug":"the-science-and-population-size-supports-a-sandhill-crane-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/the-science-and-population-size-supports-a-sandhill-crane-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science and Population Size Supports a Sandhill Crane Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bruce<\/a>By Bruce Ross, Executive Director Wisconsin Waterfowl Association<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim Eisele\u2019s recent editorial lamented that consideration of a sandhill crane hunt will increase the divide between hunters and non-hunters. His heart is in the right place, but his piecemeal treatment only exacerbates the divide he fears. He missed the opportunity to provide complete information that would reinforce what I hope is a shared commitment to science-guided conservation.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s all agree: A healthy sandhill population is Goal #1. If a sandhill crane hunt pits any non-hunters against hunters, it\u2019ll be for reasons having little to do with conservation.<\/p>\n

Migratory gamebirds like sandhills are managed continentally using the best available science, by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). They say Wisconsin\u2019s sandhill population–up 650% from 50 years ago1<\/sup>–is very strong and growing more than 4% annually2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Notably, USFWS sandhill management during those 50 years included hunting3<\/sup>. As sandhill populations have grown, more than a third of states implemented hunts. Three Canadian provinces too. And more on the way.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u2019s population is over three times the USFWS requirement to initiate a hunt4<\/sup>. Even the International Crane Foundation admits it will sustain a carefully managed hunt (not that they want one).5<\/sup><\/p>\n

Hunt opponents\u2019 concerns typically include crane life cycles differ from other game birds. Wisconsin is a sandhill breeding ground.\u00a0 Migratory staging makes sandhills vulnerable to overharvest. <\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m quick to agree these factors should be fully considered by the USFWS.\u00a0 And I\u2019m happy to report they are on the job.\u00a0 Empirical evidence\u2014annual population counts\u2014for the past 50 years shows they are pretty good at it.<\/p>\n

Before any hunt, the USFWS must approve a state plan that carefully implements requirements to protect population health under Wisconsin\u2019s unique circumstances6<\/sup>. If studies or experience reveal new considerations, those are incorporated.<\/p>\n

A harvest is just one management tool\u2014but it\u2019s a tool that opens the door to hunter-funded restitution of some<\/em> of the $3.5M in sandhill depredation and mitigation costs absorbed by farmers in 2022. \u00a0<\/sup>Alarmingly, Wisconsin\u2019s DNR estimates 2.8 million acres of corn7<\/sup> could be subject to depredation from an unchecked sandhill population\u2014meaning mitigation costs could approach $28M per year.\u00a0 <\/sup>That far exceeds what hunter-supplied depredation funding could offset\u2014or should.<\/p>\n

Which begs the question: what sandhill population size, with its associated depredation costs, is acceptable? It\u2019s farmers, not birdwatchers, who foot that bill.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve experienced with the Canada goose population, impacts beyond agriculture will<\/u> grow.\u00a0 Aircraft impacts and aggressive crane-human interactions are already documented.9<\/sup><\/p>\n

If hunt opponents omit these truths as inconvenient to their ends, it leaves the impression that hunters are conservation-challenged.<\/p>\n

To the contrary, today\u2019s hunters have embraced science-guided wildlife management for generations, putting their money where their heart is. Beyond license fees, hunters bring home to Wisconsin tens of millions of conservation dollars through excise taxes on their equipment and through voluntary contributions to habitat organizations like Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited, and my own Wisconsin Waterfowl Association. Hunters lobbied for a decade to increase<\/em> the price of waterfowling permits, knowing these dollars conserve habitat critical to healthy wildlife populations. Those restored habitats also serve surrounding communities with cleaner water, flood mitigation, and higher levels of carbon sequestration.<\/p>\n

Science-based management with a focus on habitat means waterfowl\u2014gamebirds, like the sandhill\u2014are up 34% in 50 years. In contrast, birds like those we feed in our backyard are down a cumulative 3 billion10<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Consider Eisele\u2019s underlying logic from a hunter\u2019s perspective: I don\u2019t want to hunt sandhills, so you shouldn\u2019t be allowed<\/em>.\u00a0 What does it mean for Wisconsin\u2019s constitutionally protected hunting11<\/sup> if<\/p>\n

(1) a currently hunted gamebird,<\/p>\n

(2) with a proven federal management system,<\/p>\n

(3) that far exceeds population goals,<\/p>\n

(4) and which imposes significant agricultural costs, is prohibited for non-rational reasons?<\/p>\n

When the primary decision filter is emotion, hunters might understandably wonder what\u2019s next<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Emotional connection to a species is important to its conservation story. But passion-blinded wildlife decisions which discount science-based management will tie wildlife manager\u2019s hands and disproportionately impose expanding costs on farmers.\u00a0 And needlessly erode hunters\u2019 outsized conservation contributions from which we all benefit.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin conservationists of any flavor should not be divided on this topic. We share a fundamental commitment to a healthy crane population. The rest of the story<\/em> can bridge Eisele\u2019s divide.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, an upcoming legislative stud can seize the opportunity to get past superficial talking points.\u00a0 Bi-partisan legislators together with agricultural, birding and hunting representatives will deeply consider the state\u2019s crane population opportunities and challenges. Our state\u2019s conservation interests would be well served if they reach fact-based and science-informed conclusions.<\/p>\n

\n

Bruce Ross is the<\/em> Executive Director of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association (WWA).\u00a0 After a career with the US Coast Guard, he retired to Wisconsin two decades ago and took up leadership roles with state conservation organizations.\u00a0\u00a0 WWA is celebrating its 40th<\/sup> anniversary as a 501c3 dedicated to restoring Wisconsin\u2019s wetland habitat and encouraging waterfowlers\u2019 progression from game<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bruce Ross, Executive Director Wisconsin Waterfowl Association Tim Eisele\u2019s recent editorial lamented that consideration of a sandhill crane hunt will increase the divide between hunters and non-hunters. His heart is in the right place, but his piecemeal treatment only exacerbates the divide he fears. He missed the opportunity to provide complete information that would…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,29],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-lifestyle-hunting","tag-current"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3750,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions\/3750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}