Species Recovery Objectives for Four Target Species in the Central and Lower Platte River

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some other species. Several of these references are provided under "A.3. Habitat Limitations on the Central Platte River" in the piping plover and least tern section of this report. In addition, woody vegetation expansion and continuing declines in open channel habitat (preferred by whooping cranes) on the Platte River is documented. 54 As a result of reduced channel width, loss of adjacent wet meadows, and encroachment of the channel by woody vegetation, 128 km of river channel whooping crane habitat have been lost.55 In the remaining 120 km of the Platte River channel that crosses the breadth of the migration path, there has been a 58 to 87% reduction in channel area due to encroachment of woody vegetation and a 70% loss in the average annual flow since 1930. Woody vegetation is still expanding and channel width declining on the Platte River. 56 As much as 97% of suitable crane roosting habitat has been lost in some river segments. Over 73% of native grasslands and wetlands adjacent to the river channel have been lost due to declines in river flows, construction of drainage systems, and conversion to cropland.57 To help ensure conservation of the whooping crane, on May 15, 1978, the FWS designated a portion of the central Platte River as "critical habitat" 58 for whooping cranes. The area designated was a strip of river bottom with a north -south width of 3 miles, a south boundary paralleling Interstate 80, beginning at the junction of U.S. Highway 283 and Interstate 80 near Lexington, and extending eastward along Interstate 80 to the interchange for Shelton and Denman, Nebraska near the Buffalo -Hall County line. On the same date, 8 other sites in 5 states were also designated as critical habitat for the whooping crane. The Platte River site is the only one of the 9 sites designated that remains largely under private ownership. All of the others are under state or federal protection.. Habitat improvements to the central Platte River for whooping cranes would help ensure the AWP well being by providing adequate migrational habitat for an increasing number of whooping cranes as the recovery plan goal for the AWP is met. B.3. Status of Aransas/Wood Buffalo Population The AWP (the species' only self - sustaining wild migratory flock) is experiencing a gradual positive population trend overall, although some years exhibit stationary or 54 Currier, P. J. 1997. Woody vegetation expansion and continuing declines in open channel habitat on the Platte River in Nebraska. Proc. North Am. Crane Workshop 7:141 -152. 55 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1981. The Platte River ecology study. Special Research Report. Northern Prairie Research Center, Jamestown, North Dakota. 187 pp. 56 Currier 1997. S7 Currier, P. J., G. R. Lingle, and J. G. VanDerwalker. 1985. Migratory bird habitat on the Platte and North Platte Rivers in Nebraska. The Platte River Whooping Crane Habitat Maintenance Trust, Grand Island, Nebraska. 177 pp. 58 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior. May 15, 1978. Federal Register, Vol. 43, No. 94. 19