• About LandScope
• Contact Us

• Sign In / Register

• Introduction
  • Overview of Features
  • Putting LandScope to Use
• Explore Places and Topics
  • Open Space 101
  • Conservation Lands
  • Plants and Animals
  • Ecosystems and Habitats
  • Natural Geographies
  • Threats and Issues
  • Find Your State
• Focus and Plan
  • Understand Conservation Priorities
  • Identify Priority Places: A Practitioner's Guide
  • Assessing Wildlife Habitat Connectivity
  • Plan Conservation Projects
  • Protected Areas
  • Priority Places
• Take Action
  • Conserve Land
  • Land Stewardship and Protection
  • Conservation Financing
  • Lands and Livelihoods
  • Innovative Tools
  • Volunteer
• Connect and Share
  • Find Land Trusts and Conservation Groups
  • Find Conservation Projects
  • Contribute Data
  • Share Your Stories and Photos
  • Submit an Organizational Profile
  • Read Conservation News
• Go to the Map

Reintroduction of Whooping Cranes to Southwest Louisiana

HomeConnect and ShareFind Conservation ProjectsReintroduction of Whooping Cranes to Southwest Louisiana

Project Description

Project Map

Publicly Accessible: Yes
County: Vermilion Parish, LA
Project Size:

• 70.0 acres

Project Sites

• White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area

Goals and Targets

Primary Motivations:

• Conservation Mission
  To establish a self-sustaining Whooping crane population in southwest Louisiana and ultimately lead the species to be down listed from and endangered species to a threatened species.

Primary Goals:

• Develop a Memorandum of Understanding between the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service defining responsibilities of each agency.
  Progress: Completed
• Develop a detailed project proposal.
  Progress: Completed
• Hold public hearings (Baton Rouge and Gueydan, LA) in accordance with USFWS proposed rule requirements.
  Progress: Completed September 2010
• Build a soft release pen to hold Whooping cranes.
  Progress: Completed October 2010
• Department of Interior Final Rule: Fish and Wildlife Service; 50 CFR Part 17 for the reintroduction.
  Progress: Final Rule should be published by Feb. 1, 2011
• Transfer Whooping cranes from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to Louisiana.
  Progress: The transfer of the birds is tentatively set for Feb 2011
• Moitor daily crane activities
  Progress: Daily monitoring efforts will be implemented by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Louisiana State University staff immediately upon the birds arrival.
• Monitor >3 times per week for the life of the birds. Questions to be answered by this research include, but are not limited to, food preference, sensitivity to disturbance etc.
  Progress: Research will begin immediately upon the birds arrival.

Consistent With Plans:

• Species Recovery Plan
  This project will align with strategies incorporated in the Whooping Crane Recovery Plan.
  

Targeted Habitats:

• Wetlands and Riparian Habitats
• Marshes, Bogs and Emergent Wetlands

Targeted Species:

• Whooping Crane Grus americana

Conservation Actions

Action	Status	Start Year	End Year
Reintroduce native species	Proposed	2010	2010
Reintroduce Whooping cranes

Outcomes

Is the success of this project's actions being monitored? Yes

Monitoring Activities
Yes, by the Whooping crane recovery team.