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• Implementation of the Whooping Crane Monitoring Protocol <br />Spring 2008 <br />Final Report Prepared by <br />AIM Environmental Consultants <br />For the <br />Governance Committee of the <br />Platte River Recovery Implementation Program <br />20 June 2008 <br />Assessment Impact Monitoring Environmental Consultants (AIM) was awarded a <br />contract to assist the Governance Committee in implementing specific monitoring associated <br />with the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program. The specific task was to implement <br />the protocols developed by the Technical Advisory Committee entitled Monitoring Whooping <br />Crane Migrational Habitat Use in the Central Platte River Valley and Rebar Marker Placement <br />Protocol during the spring and fall migrations. The contract specified the implementation of the <br />draft protocol dated 16 September 2005 along with guidelines presented in the Request for <br />Proposal. The term of the contract was January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2010. I present <br />• the results of the spring 2008 Whooping Crane migration pursuant to the Contract for Services <br />dated 2 February 2008. <br />Study Area and Methods <br />The study area was the Platte River reach between U.S. Highway 283 (near Lexington) <br />and Chapman, Nebraska. This reach is about 90 miles long and includes an area extending 3.5 <br />miles either side of the outermost banks of the Platte River. I hired and trained thirteen <br />technicians and conducted field work from 21 March through 29 April 2008. A set of six data <br />sheets was provided by Headwaters Corporation and all data were entered into a Microsoft <br />Access 2000 database template developed by the former Executive Director's Office. <br />Two air services were contracted and aerial surveys were conducted along specified <br />routes near sunrise from 21 March through 29 April 2008 as weather permitted. Censuses were <br />initiated no earlier than 30 minutes before sunrise and typically were completed within 2 hours. <br />Start times were delayed when weather /visibility conditions dictated. Flights were cancelled due <br />to unsafe weather or mechanical problems. Cessna 172's were equipped with GPS units and <br />each had two observers to conduct the surveys. Waypoints for each survey route were <br />programmed into the GPS units onboard the aircraft. Surveys were flown at an altitude of 750' <br />and at a speed of about 100 mph. <br />The study area was divided into two legs. The east leg surveyed the Platte River reach <br />between Chapman and the Minden (Highway 10) bridges and the west leg surveyed from the <br />Final Spring 2008 Whooping Crane Monitoring Report <br />6/20/2008 <br />