[TN-Bird] Coverage on Sandhill Crane issue in today's Tennessean

From: viclcsw@xxxxxxx
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2013 08:19:09 -0400 (EDT)

Here is another excellent article describing the primary issues in the
controversy over hunting cranes in Tennessee published by the Nashville
Tennessean today. TOS Melinda Welton is quoted along with other parties, and
Melinda expresses the key issues very well.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130708/NEWS11/307080032/Sandhill-crane-hunting-proposal-TN-sparks-support-opposition

Article pasted below but you will also want to hear the sandhill crane
vocalizations in the video, one of the most captivating characteristics of the
species--their communication.

Vickie Henderson
Knoxville, TN
Knox County

http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/
http://vickiehendersonsketchbook.blogspot.com/
http://vickiehenderson.com/

July 8, 2013

Sandhill crane hunting proposal in TN sparks support, opposition

Hunting plan may be allowed, but some aren't happy

By Duane W. Gang
| The Tennessean
Tens of thousands of sandhill cranes descend on southeast Tennessee every
winter. With wingspans of up to 6 feet, they are some of the largest migratory
birds around.
Tourists and bird watchers travel from around the country to Tennessee to view
them. A whole festival in January is devoted to the birds.
Now, they could be in the sights of hunters, too.
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission — for the second time in three years
— is considering a sandhill crane hunting season.
If the commission approves the hunting plan at its August meeting, Tennessee
would become the 16th state to allow crane hunting. The commission delayed a
decision in January 2011.
The central question in the current debate is not whether the sandhill crane
population can sustain a level of hunting — biologists on both sides of the
issue agree it can — but whether a hunt is the right thing to do given how they
attract bird watchers to the state.
Organized hunting groups, led by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, support a
sandhill crane season. But the plan has raised concerns among birders, and the
Tennessee Ornithological Society says the cranes are too valuable a resource to
hunt.
“What we want to see is the opportunity to hunt the cranes but do it in a wise
and sustainable fashion and in a way that recognizes and helps promote the
viewing opportunities as well,” Mike Butler, the federation’s CEO, told the
commission in late June.
Melinda Welton, chairwoman of the Ornithological Society’s conservation policy
committee, said Tennesseans oppose hunting the birds, the largest species found
in the state. She said by allowing crane hunting, the commission and the
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which it oversees, risk a major public
outcry.
“I think the agency is going to get quite a bit of grief,” she said. “It is a
golden opportunity for the agency to gain a lot of goodwill by proclaiming this
the most watchable wildlife species in the state and celebrating that.”
The hunt plan
The sandhill crane population in Tennessee is estimated as high as 87,000.
There are as many as 650,000 of the birds nationwide.
Because the birds are migratory and cross state and international borders,
Tennessee can’t make a decision about hunting on its own.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets the terms of any hunt and has proposed
a 60-day season in Tennessee. The agency also sets a limit on the number of
birds hunters can kill. Tennessee is obligated to act, one way or another, on a
hunting season.
Tennessee officials can’t make a hunting season more expansive than what the
federal government will allow, said Gary Anderson, TWRA’s assistant chief of
wildlife. The state could decide not to allow the hunting.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed:
• A 60-day season concurrent with the state’s late waterfowl season starting in
November.
• A hunting zone east of state Highway 56 and south of Interstate 40 in
southeast Tennessee.
• Seven hundred seventy-five crane-hunting permits, with each permit allowed to
take up to three birds.
• A quota and check-in system. Hunters would be required to report and tag any
killed birds.
• The Hiawasee Wildlife Refuge, north of Chattanooga, would be off limits to
hunting. The refuge is home to the annual Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival.
• A halt to hunting immediately before and during the crane festival.
• A requirement that all permit holders undergo a course proving they can tell
the difference between a sandhill crane and a whooping crane. Whooping cranes
are a federally endangered species with a nationwide population estimated at
less than 600. Whooping cranes often intermix with sandhill cranes.
Jeb Barzen, the International Crane Foundation’s director of field ecology,
said the organization doesn’t weigh in on whether states should allow hunting.
But he said the foundation believes the overall take of 10 percent of the
population across all states is too high.
Still, he said, hunting of sandhill cranes can be done sustainably, providing
smaller numbers are taken. It really is a question of whether Tennesseans want
to use the sandhill cranes for hunting, he said.
“This is a social decision,” Barzen said.
Public opinion
When the commission delayed a decision in 2011, 72 percent of the public
comments TWRA received opposed a sandhill crane hunt. The agency is accepting
another round of comments until Aug. 10.
To help determine public support this year, the TWRA hired a public opinion
research firm to conduct a detailed survey.
According to the survey, Tennesseans overwhelmingly — 84 percent — support
legal hunting. When asked about sandhill cranes, the attitude takes a dramatic
turn: 62 percent of Tennessee’s general population opposes hunting the birds.
By comparison, hunters appear split on the issue, with 42 percent in favor of a
sandhill crane hunt and 35 percent opposed.
But the survey also showed many people lack extensive knowledge of sandhill
cranes. Some confuse them with great blue herons.
“I think the message here is that you are dealing with emotional issues,” said
Mark Duda, executive director of Responsive Management, the Harrisonburg,
Va.-based company that conducted the survey. The company specializes in public
opinion on natural resources.
Welton, a wildlife biologist and the Ornithological Society representative,
said the survey shows that TWRA should not conduct a hunt.
“The impact is not going to be on the population of the cranes. The impact is
going to be on the agency,” she told the commission. “With 60 percent of the
residents of Tennessee opposed to a crane hunt, that is not going to put the
agency in a good light.”
Welton said bird watching and hunting generally do not conflict. But she said
that’s not the case with sandhill cranes.
“The numbers of cranes are increasing, but just because you can hunt a species
and not impact its population doesn’t mean you should,” she said.
Butler, with the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, said the survey showed that
people believe both watching and hunting can coexist.
“The tent is big enough,” said Butler, a waterfowl biologist by training. “We
can both enjoy our pastimes.”
The state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission is likely to support the hunting
proposal, Chairman Jeff McMillin said.
“I see why people are passionate about it,” McMillin said. “If the resource can
stand it and we can come to a common agreement, then in my heart a hunting
season is appropriate. I can’t see how the agency will suffer from it.”
Additional Facts
ABOUT SANDHILL CRANE HUNTING PROPOSAL
PROPOSED HUNT
When: Late November
Length: Up to 60 days
Permits: 775
Birds: 2,325, or three birds per each permit

SOURCE: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

CRANE HUNTING
These states and Canadian provinces allow crane hunting:

United States
Alaska
Arizona
Colorado
Idaho
Kansas
Kentucky
Minnesota
Montana
North Dakota
New Mexico
Oklahoma

Canada
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Yukon Territory

SOURCE: International Crane Foundation

PUBLIC COMMENT
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is accepting public comment on whether
to allow sandhill crane hunting. The agency will accept comments until Aug. 10.
Here’s how to weigh in:

By email: TWRA.Comment@xxxxxx
By mail: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Att: Waterfowl Regulations, P.O.
Box 40747, Nashville, TN, 37204.

Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission
The commission must make a decision on sandhill crane hunting by next month in
order to meet federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deadlines.

When: 1 p.m. Aug. 22 and 9 a.m. Aug. 23
Where: Holiday Inn Knoxville West at Cedar Bluff, 304 N. Cedar Bluff Road,
Knoxville

[TN-Bird] Coverage on Sandhill Crane issue in today's Tennessean

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