Sandhill Crane Hunt in Wisconsin? Part VI: Hunting Legislation Status

By Todd Schaller, WWA Vice President

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s February, 2022 Newsletter edition.

Editor’s note: this article is Part IV in our series on exploring the issues surround a sustainable and ethical Sandhill Crane hunting season in Wisconsin. Part 1Part II, Part III, Part IV & Part V were published in earlier editions of our newsletter.

“What is happening with the sustainable and ethical Sandhill Crane (SHC) hunting season legislation?”, is no doubt a common question for WWA Newsletter readers.

While the quick answer is easy – still in the political process—it is important to share the background and WWA’s efforts.

When WWA started the SHC newsletter article series last May, the focus was to educate readers about the issue beyond advocating for a SHC hunting season.

Some may ask “why didn’t WWA advocate for a season, then?” The decision was based on WWA leadership and our policy committee feeling the timing wasn’t right, and the decision was made rather to focus on a collaborative effort knowing the challenges of creating a SHC hunting season.

Jump ahead to October 2021 when SHC hunting legislation was introduced as one bill of a twelve-bill legislative package rolled out as the Sporting Freedom Package.  The legislation is sponsored by Senator Felzkowski  (Senate Bill 620) and Representative Tittl (Assembly Bill 667)

WWA became aware of an interest by Rep. Tittl to develop Sandhill Crane hunting legislation and met with Rep Tittl and others to discuss the concept outside of the Sporting Freedom Package efforts.

In October, SB620 received a public hearing through the Senate Committee on Sporting Heritage, Small Business and Rural Issues.  The hearing included all of the bills within the Sporting Freedom Package.  WWA Executive Director Ross testified specifically on the SHC season legislation.  During the testimony, Bruce spoke in to support of the concept of a SHC hunting season and in doing so emphasized the importance of a collaborative approach while highlighting some challenges within the bill as written.

WWA continues to be engaged in the process and has been part of several conversations with the sponsors sharing ideas on how to make the legislation better.  In addition, members of the WWA Policy Committee have met with several  members (Democrat and Republican) of the Assembly Committee on Sporting Heritage to discuss the issue.

The focus of these meetings has been how science, biology and conservation support a sustainable and ethical Sandhill Crane hunting season.  Acknowledging the different perspectives of the topic with full understanding of the science-based facts is critical.  The meetings also highlighted how WWA and the hunting community cares for and supports species management.  This support is demonstrated through a long history of funding conservation with license fees, conservation organization memberships and rolling up their sleeves to work on habitat projects.

Next step for the SHC hunting season legislation is for the bill sponsors to make any amendments and for SB620 to go through the Joint Committee on Finance based on the fiscal impacts of the bill – license fees and damage program.  The bill will also need to be supported (majority vote) within both the Senate and Assembly before being moved to the Governor’s desk. Understand the Senate and Assembly are currently Republican controlled.

Now the biggest challenge is time.  With the legislature going out of session in March, all these steps need to occur within the next few weeks.

I’ll put this in the box of “bad timing” and another potential challenge we’re facing.  In December, in Oklahoma  four Whooping Cranes were illegally killed.  The case is still under investigation so WWA doesn’t feel it is appropriate to develop statements, conclusions or assumptions until all the facts are known.

Groups in opposition are using the Oklahoma incident to highlight why a Wisconsin SHC season shouldn’t happen.

As a hunter and conservationist, I would never identify myself with an individual who hunts illegally, unsafely, irresponsibly or unethically.  I believe this to be true for most hunters and the hunting community as a whole.  I also know as a hunter, when these types of incidents occur, it has a negative impact on the entire hunting community and hunting, regardless of the facts.

Illegal, unsafe, irresponsible or unethical actions of an individual don’t reflect the actions, beliefs and behaviors of the entire hunting community. The “bad apple” view is especially powerful for those who oppose the activity – a good lesson for all of us.

While we wait for the facts in this Oklahoma incident, one fact we do know: while Whooping Cranes have been killed illegally, a Whooping Crane has never been killed as part of a person legally involved with a SHC hunting season.

Another important fact is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires any Mississippi Flyway State proposing a SHC hunting season to implement an education program stressing the importance of crane identification to minimize the risk of accidental shooting of a Whooping Crane.

WWA is committed to continued efforts with this proposed legislation by making it the best legislation possible, continuing the collaborative approach, testifying at hearings, educating elected officials on the topic and advocating for a sustainable and ethical SHC hunting season in Wisconsin.

It is doubtful the bill will pass and be signed during this legislative session. But, that doesn’t’ mean the last several months were wasted.  We’ve made progress: the 2010 legislation didn’t even get a committee hearing, we started (and continued) the conversation and collaboration.  In the end, we’ll have a head-start on potential future legislation.  And given a rapidly growing sandhill crane population that is taking a toll on Wisconsin farmers ($1.6M in 2019), this issue is not going away by itself.