Operation Migration hangar, aircraft vandalized
GEORGE HESSELBERG|ghesselberg@xxxxxxxxxxx|608-252-6140 | Posted: Wednesday,
November 25, 2009 11:55 am
The Operation Migration effort that is escorting young whooping cranes to
refuges in Florida, already beset by weather-caused delays, received a major
blow this week when a break-in and heavy damage from vandalism was discovered
at its Necedah aircraft hangar.
The Juneau County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the break-in, but was unable to
supply details.
In the daily Operation Migration field journal, which reports on the progress
of the migration, Joe Duff wrote Wednesday from Livingston County, Ill., that
the small nonprofit’s hangar used during the summer was "robbed and
vandalized." The lights were smashed and tires slashed on the stored vehicles
of two staff members. One of the staff members, who lives with the endangered
birds all year, lost all of his belongings, Duff reported.
"His entire life is spent on the road so he uses the hangar to store all of the
belongings the rest of us would leave at home. Most of them are now gone or
destroyed in some distorted expression of violence that we simply cannot
understand," Duff wrote.
Four wings for the ultra-light aircraft, used to escort the birds, were
slashed, something that will cost $20,000 to replace. The group does not have
insurance. A full-sized sculpture of a whooping crane, made by one of the
ultralight pilots, was smashed and spray-painted. One of the ultralights used
in the past to lead geese, swans, sandhill cranes and whooping cranes was
damaged.
Duff wrote that it was hard to understand the motivation for the damage. "The
things destroyed were worth far more than the things stolen," he wrote.
Liz Condie, who is in the escort team, said Wednesday the hangar is located
just outside of Necedah adjacent to the airport runway. The damage was
extensive to aircraft and aircraft parts, and that imperils the entire project
as the group’s ultralights are designed to be identical and that particular
model is no longer manufactured.
"We just can’t easily replace an aircraft," Condie said.
She said the break-in was discovered Nov. 19 by a volunteer last week who was
returning equipment to the hangar.
The migration effort of the 20 birds has been delayed by bad flying weather,
and so far has gone 239 "air" miles of its 1,285 mile journey.
"We’re holding up pretty well, and not that far off last year’s pace," Condie
said. "It’s not like we are unaccustomed to delays."
The field journal can be reached here, where a fundraising effort has been
started to pay for replacement and repair of the damaged items.
Posted in Crime_and_courts on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 11:55 am Updated:
12:13 pm. Operation Migration,
Jackie
Jacqueline Van Willigen
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