The Biden administration had secret plans to weaken protections for whooping cranes. Documents obtained through an open records request reveal that officials appear to have deliberately misled the public, according to an environmental group.
These documents show that the U.S. The documents show that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes changing the status of the only natural flocks from endangered to threatened. This is according to the Center for Biological Diversity in a news release.
While whooping cranes still have a long way to travel before they can recover, they are at least moving in the right direction with full protections provided by the Endangered Species Act. In an email Tuesday, Stephanie Kurose, senior policy specialist at the center, stated that reducing protections at this stage would be heartbreaking and likely undo much their progress.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating whether a request to downlist the crane is appropriate, but has not submitted such a proposal, according to a statement sent Tuesday to The Associated Press.
![An endangered whooping crane walks with a group of sandhill cranes in a rural area of Hernando County. [Times (2010)]](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns= "An endangered whooping crane walks with a group of sandhill cranes in a rural area of Hernando County. [Times (2010)]")
Whoopers are the rarest cranes in the world. The natural flock has approximately 500 birds, compared to just 15 in 1941. The International Crane Foundation reports that there are about 150 birds in the natural flock and 145 in captivity.
The flocks are being processed are classified as experimental to allow for more flexibility in their management.
According to the federal agency in May 2021, the agency announced that it was reviewing the bird status. The possibility of a downlisting plan was made public in the fall 2021.
The statement stated that reclassification to threatened status would not reduce the need for appropriate protections under Endangered Species Act.
Kurose said that the center requested public records after the December publication of the fall lists. It received a draft press release entitled North America’s Tallest Bird on the Road to Recovery. After decades of conservation efforts, the proposed change to endangered to threatened status for the whooping crane was made.
Kurose stated that reclassifying the threatened flock that migrates between Texas, Canada and Mexico as endangered would remove protections from pesticides. She stated in an email that it would also limit protections against transmission lines and other structures being damaged by birds that migrate along the main migratory corridors.
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The whooping crane is North America’s tallest bird. It can reach 5 feet (1.5m) from its black feet to a red cap and featherless black mask. Their feathers are all white, with the exception of their wings which can span almost 7 feet (2.1 metres).
Biologists believe that more than 10,000 people lived in North America before habitat loss or overhunting nearly ended their lives.
The current total of 800 is more than 250 more than in 2010, when officials were finalizing plans for releasing juveniles in Louisiana. The Louisiana flock now has 70 members. The other experimental flock includes about 80 people who are trained with ultralight aircraft to migrate from Wisconsin to Florida.
According to the Fish and Wildlife statement, any proposal for reclassification of whooping cranes will be published in the Federal Register. Public comments can be made and would be considered in any final decision.
However, the Center for Biological Diversity stated in a March 8, 2020 memo that a committee had made a recommendation for the change. Emails from the July 2021 show that the crane wasn’t included on a list of proposed modifications two months later.
The delay was due to fear that the decision could trigger intense public scrutiny, and backlash, according to the organization.
The Service is close to completing a rule to downlist the whooping Crane and has created a public outreach plan to message the proposal. However, the agency continues its denial that it has been seriously considering weakening protections.
