[TN-Bird] Announcement Of Draft Whooping Crane Recovery Plan
- From: "Michael Roedel" <Michael.Roedel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 08:22:28 -0600
The draft revised recovery plan for the whooping crane is now available
for public review and comment at
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plans/2005/050111.pdf Please be aware
that the document is a 2MB PDF totaling 193 pages. The press release
summarizing the plan is copied below.
Michael Roedel, State Ornithologist
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747 Nashville, TN 37204
voice (615) 781-6653
http://www.state.tn.us/twra
.........................................................................................
For Release: January 11, 2005
Contacts: Victoria Fox 505-248-6455, Tom Stehn 361-286-3559
DRAFT REVISED RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE WHOOPING CRANE AVAILABLE
FOR
PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking
public
review and comment on the draft revised recovery plan for
the
whooping crane (Grus americana). In the United States, the
species
was listed as Endangered in 1970, and Critical Habitat was
designated
in 1978. In Canada, it was designated as Endangered in 1978.
The draft revised Recovery Plan provides objectives and
actions
needed to delist the species. The current recovery goal is to
reclassify (downlist) the species from endangered to threatened
status. The recovery strategy includes protecting breeding,
wintering, and migration habitat, protecting and facilitating
the
growth of the current wild population that migrates from Wood
Buffalo
National Park in Canada to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in
Texas
(AWBP population), establishing two additional self-sustaining
wild
populations of whooping cranes in North America, and maintaining
a
genetically healthy captive population. Downlisting can be
achieved
when (1) there are a minimum of 40 productive pairs in the AWBP
and
25 productive pairs in each of two additional self-sustaining
populations, or there are 250 productive pairs in the AWBP, and
(2)
there are at least 21 productive pairs in the captive
population.
The Service uses a priority numbering system for listed
species,
which ranges from one to 18, with one being the highest
recovery
priority. The whooping crane has a recovery priority of 2c.
This
designation indicates that the whooping crane is a species
with a
high degree of threat yet has a high recovery potential.
Whooping cranes occur only in North America. They currently
exist in the wild at 3 locations and in captivity at 8 sites.
The
January 2005 total wild population is estimated at 342. This
includes: 216 individuals in the only self-sustaining
Aransas-Wood
Buffalo National Park population that nests in Canada and winters
in
coastal marshes in Texas; 79 captive-raised individuals released
in
an effort to establish a non-migratory population in central
Florida,
and 47 individuals introduced starting in 2001 in the eastern
U.S.
that migrate between Wisconsin and Florida. The January 2005
captive population at the Calgary Zoo, International Crane
Foundation, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the San Antonio
Zoo
is 128 birds. The total population, wild and captive, in
January
2005 is 470.
The whooping crane breeds, migrates, winters and forages in
a
variety of habitats, including coastal and inland marshes,
lakes,
ponds, wet meadows, rivers, and agricultural fields. Their
summer
and winter range is restricted to a 25-mile radius. The
2,400-mile
long migration corridor each spring and fall is about 150 miles
wide.
Whooping cranes migrate for 1-3 months through the prairie states
and
provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, eastern Montana,
North
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Historic population declines resulted from habitat
destruction,
shooting, and displacement by activities of man. Current
threats
include limited genetics, loss and degradation of migration
stopover
habitat, including collisions with and construction of power
lines,
degradation of coastal habitat and threat of chemical spills.
The wild whooping crane population is characterized by low
numbers, slow reproductive potential, and limited genetic
diversity.
The possibility exists that a stochastic, catastrophic event
could
eliminate the wild, self-sustaining Aransas-Wood Buffalo
population.
Therefore, the principal strategy of the draft revised Whooping
Crane
Recovery Plan is to augment and increase the wild population by
reducing threats, and through the establishment of two additional
and
discrete populations. Offspring from the captive breeding
population
will be released into the wild to establish the populations.
Production by released birds and their offspring will ultimately
result in self-sustaining wild populations. The continued growth
of
the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population along with the two
additional
populations will also stem the loss of genetic diversity.
Concern for the conservation of the whooping crane in
North
America dating back nearly 100 years as well as the
species'
remarkable comeback from a low of only 21 birds in 1941, has made
the
species a symbol of conservation in North America. This is the
third
revision of the whooping crane recovery plan, which was
first
completed in 1980. Recovery Plans require periodic updates in
order
to maintain current standards.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking the
public to
review and comment on the draft revised Recovery Plan by March
11,
2005. The draft plan is available on the Service's
website at
www.fws.gov. Persons wishing to review the Draft Revised
Recovery
Plan can download it directly
at
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plans/2005/050111.pdf, or
obtain a
copy on a CD from the Whooping Crane Coordinator, Aransas
National
Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 100, Austwell, Texas 77950. Comments
and
materials concerning this draft revised Recovery Plan should
also be
mailed to the address above. The 60-day public comment period
closes
on March 11, 2005.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal
Federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing
fish,
wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit
of
the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre
National
Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife
refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special
management
areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery
resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The
agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered
Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such
as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal
governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal
Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of
dollars
in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish
and
wildlife agencies.
Visit the Service's website at: http://www.fws.gov.
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