Wis. lawmaker calls for sandhill crane hunt

MADISON, Wis. — To bird lovers, sandhill cranes are majestic creatures whose cries hearken back to prehistoric times. To others, they're the rib-eye of the sky.

A Wisconsin lawmaker has quietly proposed a bill that would let hunters blast the birds to stop them from chewing up farmers' cornfields. The legislation promises to spark a bitter debate in state that is both defined by its deep-rooted hunting traditions and serves as home to the International Crane Foundation, one of the world's premier crane protection organizations.

"I don't think this is the state to push for a crane hunt," said Karen Etter Hale, a vice president of the Wisconsin Audubon Council. "If hunters want to further damage their reputations by pushing for yet another species to hunt, then that's what they should do."

Sandhill cranes, tall, elegant birds with a wing span that can reach 5 feet and a call that sounds like a velociraptor crossed with a pteronodon, are found throughout North America and eastern Siberia. They're not to be confused with whooping cranes, the birds famous for trailing ultralights to their winter homes.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources estimates the sandhill is now the most abundant crane species in the world with a population of around 600,000. Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario, Canada, have become the core nesting grounds for what's known as the eastern population, a flock of about 70,000 birds that move up and down the eastern half of the United States.

Thirteen states, mostly in the U.S. mid-section, have now implemented hunts. Kentucky became the most recent in December when it launched a limited hunt, but it went over with a collective shrug. The state issued 342 permits and hunters killed just 50 birds.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated Wisconsin's sandhill population stood at about 25,000 in late October, according to data provided by the Wisconsin DNR. They've etched a special place in the heart of Wisconsin bird lovers and the Baraboo-based International Crane Foundation has become a world-renowned authority on cranes and their habitat, performing research and advising scientists. Thousands of schoolchildren visit the foundation every year.

But as the sandhill population grows, more Wisconsin farmers have been complaining about sandhills eating their corn seeds and fledgling stalks. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, federal wildlife officials issued 55 permits to landowners in southern Wisconsin to kill problem cranes last year, up from 16 in 2008.