Sandhill Crane Open House at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area

The International Crane Foundation is proud to announce the 50th anniversary of its annual Midwest Crane Count, a landmark milestone for one of the longest-running community science wildlife surveys in North America.

With support of the Mumford and Keller grant award, the International Crane Foundation distributed 18 “Birding Backpacks” throughout western and central Indiana to libraries, fish and wildlife areas, and nature centers. These backpacks are now available for local youth and families to check out at no cost.

I encountered my first Sandhill Crane in the spring of 1973. As a first-year graduate student and an ornithology teaching assistant, I was weak at the knees with my inexperience, yet loving every minute. Drs. George Archibald and Ron Sauey, recently of Cornell University, were just establishing the International Crane Foundation on the northern outskirts of Baraboo, Wis.