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May
12, 2006
With almost all the whooping cranes now headed north,
I thought I’d write a little about what happens at Aransas during
the summer. Some activities at Aransas that might disturb the cranes
are only permitted during the summer when the cranes are gone.
Only Allowed When Cranes Have Gone North
April
15 to October 15 is the official window for any jobs that disturb this
endangered species. Look for the reason why:
- Currently underway is a seismic exploration for oil and gas that involves drilling thousands of holes in the ground and setting off small charges of dynamite underground. The vibrations received from the explosions enable geologists to figure out where deposits of natural gas are located down as far as 2 miles underground.
- Also,
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers
will soon dredge the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway that
runs through the crane area. This canal allows barges to carry chemical
products up
and down the coast from Texas all the way to Florida.
A Poor Winter for the Whoopers
This past winter has not been good for the whooping cranes. High
quality food for the cranes was scarce much of the winter
and 6 of the birds
died. Currently there is actually 1 less bird in the flock
than was present one year ago. Threats to the cranes are growing. Housing
developments proposed to be built in the crane area threaten
the wide open spaces
that whooping cranes prefer and the habitat they need. Wind
turbines to generate electric power from wind energy are being built in the
corridor
of the migrating whooping cranes. Whooping cranes may fly into
the
turbines themselves or be killed striking new power lines built
to carry the electrical
power to cities. Concerns about global warming and associated
sea level rise that could ruin whooping crane marshes are not being
addressed
as the U.S. remains dependent on burning fossil fuels.
URGENT: Living in Harmony Within the Limits of Earth's Ecosystems
I
was in college when the first Earth Day was initiated
April 22, 1970 and people
became increasingly aware of the need to
live in harmony within
the limits of the earth’s ecosystems. That
same message is even more important today, but it
is not being heard. It
will have
to be your
generation that will need to promote conservation
more than any other generation has before you. Only
if conservation becomes
a way of
life can people use wisely the limited resources
of the earth and protect
wildlife. Without changes being made, numerous species
of wildlife will go extinct, including whooping cranes
that mean so much
to so many people
in North America.
Tom Stehn
Whooping Crane Coordinator
USFWS
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1997-2006 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
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