Study committee recommends bill linking sandhill crane hunt to aid for farmers

A committee studying management of the state’s growing sandhill crane population is recommending a bill that would allow hunting the birds and provide aid for corn growers experiencing damage from them.

The committee voted 8-4 Tuesday to recommend introduction of combined legislation rather than standalone bills on a hunt and reimbursement for farmers. Members voted 7-5 against a bill that would only provide subsidies to growers, and the committee declined to take up a proposal that would only address a potential hunt.

The combined bill drew support from Republican lawmakers, corn and potato growers and waterfowl hunting advocates on the committee. Democratic lawmakers, conservationists and a representative of the International Crane Foundation rejected the bill over opposition to a hunt.

The draft proposal would direct the state Department of Natural Resources to hold a sandhill crane hunt with increased fees pending federal approval. It would also create a new program to reimburse corn growers who incur costs from Avipel, a seed treatment to prevent crop damage.

The committee’s vice chair Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Cameron, said a standalone bill that only provides subsidies to growers is unlikely to make it through the GOP-controlled Legislature and budget-writing committee.

“I really think the combined bill tries to find that balance with all of our constituencies that we have to represent,” Quinn said.

Committee member Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said legislation to hunt sandhill cranes is just as unlikely to pass in the next two years. He noted such a proposal hasn’t become law under even larger Republican majorities in the past decade, adding it’s clear the committee wasn’t seeking consensus on crane management.

“It was to get something out of here that certain folks want, which is a hunt at all costs, and nobody gets any help for their crops if we don’t have one,” Spreitzer said. “I just think that’s an unfortunate way of doing business.”

After being nearly hunted to extinction in the late 1800s, the eastern population of sandhill cranes, which includes Wisconsin, rebounded to more than 110,000 birds in 2023. As their population has grown, the birds have caused crop losses mostly for Wisconsin corn and potato growers that totaled nearly $2 million last year.

In a statement Wednesday, the International Crane Foundation said it was disappointed with the committee’s recommendation, saying it was less about helping farmers and more about hunting cranes.

Anne Lacy, the group’s director of eastern flyway programs, reiterated during Tuesday’s meeting that staff with the Wisconsin DNR and U.S. Department of Agriculture have said hunting would not lower the population, saying a standalone bill could provide relief for some farmers now. 

“I think addition of a hunting bill still won’t get us to 100 percent support for farmers,” Lacy said.

Even so, DeForest farmer and committee member Dave Mickelson said he wants to access funding through the state’s wildlife damage abatement program. Under state law, farmers are currently unable to receive payments for crop damage through the program unless the DNR authorizes a hunt.

“I’m interested in getting something done,” Mickelson said.

Lacy said it’s possible damage payments could be provided without a hunt, but Quinn said that idea would be a non-starter with hunters.

“There’s no reason that hunters should have to support the payment of damage to a species that they aren’t even allowed to try and have the sport of harvesting and utilizing that game,” Quinn said.

Hunting migratory birds is generally restricted under federal law, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can issue regulations to enable a hunt. However, the process involves multiple steps that would likely take years.

Bill outlines framework for a hunt, creates new program to aid farmers

Under the combined bill, hunters must take part in a state hunter education program to ensure sandhill cranes aren’t confused with the endangered whooping crane.

The bill would limit hunters to one permit per season at a cost of $20 for state residents and $100 for nonresidents. It would also increase wildlife damage fees on individual hunting licenses to $3 for residents and $4 for nonresidents. Around $1.3 million in new revenues would go to the state’s wildlife damage abatement program.  

The proposal also directs the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to administer a new program that reimburses farmers for up to 50 percent of costs tied to obtaining nonlethal seed treatment that repels the birds. Applicants could receive up to $6,250 per planting season. The bill would set aside nearly $1.9 million in each year of the 2025-2027 budget.

The committee also drafted a letter asking the federal agency to ease restrictions that prevent hunters from utilizing sandhill cranes killed under depredation permits, saying it would “reduce waste and result in a more preferential outcome.” Currently, birds killed must be buried or left in the field. 

In Wisconsin, only 17 percent of almost 2,800 people surveyed last December support a hunting season on sandhill cranes, according to a study funded by the International Crane Foundation. 

The committee’s recommendation will go next to the Joint Legislative Council, a 22-member committee. Pending approval, the bill would be introduced in the next legislative session beginning in January.