RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKING GROUP

Authors

Date of this Version

2005

Document Type

Article

Citation

Resolutions passed by the North American Crane Working Group. In Chavez-Ramirez, F, ed. 2005. Proceedings of the Ninth North American Crane Workshop, Jan 17-20, 2003. Sacramento, California: North American Crane Working Group. Pp. 256-257.

Comments

Reproduced by permission of the NACWG.

Abstract

FRESHWATER INFLOWS FOR CONSERVATION OF BLUE CRABS AND WHOOPING CRANES Research has shown that whooping cranes require abundant blue crab populations on which to forage to meet their energy needs. The NACWG urges the Texas Council of Environmental Quality to grant a water right to the San Marcos River Foundation at the maximum level requested (1.15 million acre-feet) to provide freshwater inflows for conservation purposes as identified in a study conducted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. These inflows would increase blue crab populations, keep the bays and marshes productive in whooping crane critical habitat at Aransas, and help with whooping crane conservation and survival.

WHOOPING CRANE DESIGNATED CRITICAL HABITAT ON THE PLATTE RIVER IN NEBRASKA The U.S. Department of Interior has recently requested that the National Academy of Sciences review the status of designated critical habitat for the whooping crane along a 53-mile reach of the Platte River in central Nebraska. Based on numerous historical and current records of use on the Platte by whooping cranes, and the continuing need for suitable stop-over migration sites for the species throughout their 2500-mile route between Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and Wood Buffalo National Park, the NACWG recognizes the importance of central Platte River habitat to the conservation of the whooping crane and strongly recommends the continuation of designated critical habitat for whooping cranes on the Platte.

CONSTRUCTION OF WHOOPING CRANE BREEDING FACILITIES AT ACRES Whereas the Whooping Crane Recovery Team in January 2003 made a commitment to provide the Audubon Center for Research on Endangered Species (ACRES) in New Orleans with ten (10) breeding pairs of whooping cranes, contingent on the construction of a separate, additional whooping crane facility, and Whereas, ACRES currently has whooping cranes housed in 4 breeding pens originally designated for Mississippi Sandhill Cranes and will need to build an additional, separate whooping crane facility as well as a chick-rearing facility to support 10 breeding pairs.