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~ . 000883 ., Because of the nature of the river (i.e., small meanders, bends and wooded islands), it would be difficult to create a one mile unobstructed view up and downstream for whooping cranes. Therefore, within each bridge segment, the widest and longest section of the river will be used in the habitat management plan. Least terns and piping plovers require an unobstructed channel width of at least 900 feet. Unobstructed channel widths of 1,150 feet provide highly suitable unobstructed width within roosting habitat for whooping cranes in the Platte River valley. The PRMTS Biology Work Group has focused on how a block habitat management area could be developed in each bridge segment between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska. This was done by observing aerial photos and the Geographic Information System (GIS) land resource maps developed by the Platte River Whooping Crane Habitat Maintenance Trust. The PRMJS looked for wet meadow tracts classified on the GIS land resource maps and simply selected one to analyze potential management areas. Based on this approach, a table of acreages was developed that included wet meadows, river channel and buffer. For the wet meadow and river channel acreages, a break down was made of present lands and those that needed to be converted. For example, the present channel may be only 600 feet wide which would equate to approximately 145 acres in a two mile reach of river. Therefore, to have suitable roosting width of 1,150 feet, 550 feet of channel would need to be developed by converting islands and wooded floodplain into open channel for an increase of approximately 133 acres in a two mile reach. HABITAT CONSERVATION DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Various conservation organizations and agencies have been and will be acquiring land along the Platte River to fulfill organization and agency responsibilities as well as PRM,JS needs. Although habitat conservation should ideally begin in those segments currently containing the highest quality river channel and wetland meadow, land availability and cost usually drive habitat acquisition. The segment should be high in existing wide channels and high in potential for restoring channels for cranes, least terns, and piping plovers. The appropriate channel width should be present and only islands should need to be cleared (cranes) and topped with sand and gravel (terns and plovers).