Sandhill crane committee focuses on potential hunting season but spends little time on crop damage

HORICON − A legislative study committee on Thursday reviewed data on the growing population of sandhill cranes in Wisconsin and discussed a potential crane hunting season in the state.

But the five-hour meeting spent virtually no time on its stated main mission: to assist farmers with crop damage.

The Legislative Council Study Committee on Sandhill Cranes includes four legislators and eight public members. It is chaired by Rep. Paul Tittl (R-Manitowoc).

Public members include representatives of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, International Crane Foundation, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association and Delta Waterfowl.

It was formed in May and will likely meet four or five times through the year, Tittl said. Thursday was the committee's first meeting.

The group "shall examine population trends and determine whether any changes to state law would effectively address the incidence and consequences of crop damage caused by sandhill cranes in this state," according to the committee description.

Its charge includes recommending "legislation to manage the population of sandhill cranes and address the agricultural impact of sandhill cranes."

As part of its review of policy options, the committee "may consider" whether the Department of Natural Resources should seek federal approval to establish a hunting season for sandhill cranes.

Sandhill cranes were once threatened in Wisconsin but have recovered over the last century thanks to laws such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and programs to acquire and protect wetlands such as the Federal Duck Stamp.

An estimated 1.4 million sandhill cranes are found in six migratory populations in North America, according to a 2023 report in the Platte River Natural Resource Reports. Most of the birds, about 1.27 million, are in the Mid-Continent subpopulation that nests in Alaska and Canada and winters in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.

Sandhills in Wisconsin are part of the Eastern Population which was estimated at 110,000 in 2023, according to a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources report.

Last fall Wisconsin was estimated to have 50,000 sandhills in the state prior to migration, said Taylor Finger, DNR migratory game bird ecologist, in a presentation to the committee.

As the sandhill population has increased it has led to a general increase in crop damage.

About 180 complaints are received in Wisconsin annually from farms for crane-caused damage to crops including corn, wheat and potatoes, Finger said. Most of the damage, about $900,000 to $1 million, is reported by corn growers in spring.

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Kent Van Horn, retired DNR migratory game bird ecologist who helped write the 2010 sandhill crane management plan for Mississippi and Atlantic Flyway Council, said the sandhill population in Wisconsin is large enough to support a limited hunting season. Such a season would provide a new opportunity for some Wisconsin hunters, including some who now travel out-of-state to hunt cranes.

In recent years about 1,100 cranes have been killed annually in Wisconsin through depredation permits and a few hundred others harvested by Native American tribal members.

And three other states in the Mississippi Flyway killed 1,085 birds during the 2022-23 season, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

However the hunting seasons are designed to have a minimal, if any, effect on the population. And a potential Wisconsin crane hunting season also wouldn't reduce the population, Van Horn said.

“It’s structured to be sustainable, so you’re not going to lower the population in Wisconsin by adding a hunting season,” Van Horn said to the committee.

A potential crane hunting season, held in fall and with a limited number of permits as required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also would not address the largest problem caused by the birds in spring, according to multiple wildlife managers and conservationists.

And there is no evidence a fall hunting season would change the behavior of cranes and cause them to avoid fields where they are hunted.

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"I don't know the answer to that," Van Horn said.

Although no evidence was produced Thursday that a sandhill hunting season in Wisconsin would reduce crop damage or produce revenue sufficient to cover the more than $1 million annually in crane-caused crop damage, the committee spent only a few minutes talking about potential solutions to farmers problems.

Van Horn suggested the group consider a law change that would allow a new source of funding to compensate farmers for crane-caused crop damage or, in the case of corn growers, provide funding to increase the use of Avipel, a seed treatment that deters cranes.

Legislative council staff indicated the next committee meeting would include a presentation on crop damage depredation permits and the one after that would cover the federal process to create a sandhill crane hunting season in a state.

Tittl, who authored the Assembly's version of the 2021 sandhill crane hunting bill, said Friday morning he was committed to keeping an open mind.

"We're only in the infancy of this committee, so more ideas will be coming, I'm sure," Tittl said. "I didn't come into this saying, 'Hey, how can we do this so we can have a hunt?' I want to go where the science leads on this. And bottom line I want to provide relief to farmers."

The committee's next meeting will likely be held in three to five weeks and it is scheduled to complete its work in early to mid-December, Tittl said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sandhill crane committee focuses on potential hunting season but spends little time on crop damage