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DAR Whooping Cranes Are Headed to Louisiana

The four Direct Autumn Release (DAR) Whooping Crane chicks are headed to Louisiana! This year’s DAR chicks will be released in the non-migratory Whooping Crane population at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in southwest Louisiana instead of with the eastern migratory population (WCEP population) in central Wisconsin.

Appeals Court Reverses Decision for Whooping Cranes in Texas


The International Crane Foundation is disappointed that earlier this week the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that mandated fresh-water inflows to Whooping Crane habitat on the Texas coast. The three judge panel held that legal aspects of the Endangered Species Act were misapplied in the lower court decision, when it found that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was liable for the deaths of 23 Whooping Cranes in 2008-2009.

Notes from the President

I would have failed photography school. Whenever I find myself in the exotic crane places of the world, I am flanked by photographers who are able to capture the elegance and excitement – the pure charisma – of cranes in the most breathtaking ways. My camera, however, tends to focus less on the dramatic beauty and more on the menacing threats to the crane world. A Blue Crane roosting under a big, ugly powerline – click! A Wattled Crane struggling to feed on a parched, dusty floodplain – snap!

New Scooters Help Visitors Experience ICF

Michael and Peg Gargano are no strangers to the needs of ICF visitors. In addition to being ICF members, Peg has been an ICF volunteer tour guide for 22 years, and Michael currently works in the Visitor Center. When the opportunity arose to match ICF’s purchase of a new motorized scooter with another, they hopped on it.