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The survey will be conducted by volunteers in vehicles on existing roads throughout the study <br />area, from sunrise to 3 hours after sunrise. The volunteers will not need to leave their vehicle <br />during the survey. Data forms will document the route and vehicle driven, number of miles <br />driven, start and end times, road location, direction and distance to whooping crane sightings.- <br />IV.B.2 Confirming Whooping Crane Sightings <br />Sightings by volunteer ground surveyors will be screened for accuracy before the sighting is <br />relayed to the USFWS. As soon as a potential whooping crane is sighted, the information will be <br />passed from the volunteer ground surveyors to the volunteer coordinator via cell phone. The <br />volunteer coordinator will ask a series of questions designed to judge the validity of the report <br />and the location of the sighting. The volunteer coordinator will also request the sighting be <br />treated as confidential information by the volunteer. The volunteer coordinator will be <br />responsible for enlisting a local birding expert (a nearby person who is a trained biologist or at <br />least an avid birder with a good spotting scope) to verify the accuracy of the sighting or directly <br />forwarding the information to Wally Jobman, the Whooping Crane coordinator at the Fish & <br />Wildlife Service. Wally Jobman will be responsible for the official confirmation of the sighting <br />and providing the information to the ground crew for monitoring habitat use. <br />IV. B.3 Tracking Whooping Crane Movement <br />Monitoring of crane habitat use will be conducted according to the "Monitoring whooping crane <br />migrational habitat use in the central Platte River valley" protocol created by the Technical <br />Committee. <br />IV.C. Analysis Methods <br />Analysis of whooping crane migrational use will follow the "Monitoring whooping crane <br />migrational habitat use in the central Platte River valley" protocol created by the Technical <br />Committee. <br />V. QUALITY ASSURANCE /QUALITY CONTROL (QA/QC) <br />QA/QC measures will be implemented at all stages of the study, including field data collection, <br />data entry, data analysis, and report preparation. Observers will be trained in the methods used <br />and on their ability to identify Whooping cranes. At the end of each survey day, each observer <br />will be responsible for inspecting his or her data forms for completeness, accuracy, and <br />legibility. The study team leader will review data forms to insure completeness and legibility, <br />and any problems detected will be corrected. Any changes made to the data forms will be <br />initialized by the person making the change. <br />Data will be entered into electronic files at a centralized database by qualified technicians. These <br />files will be compared to the raw data forms and any errors detected will be corrected. Any <br />irregular codes detected, or any unclear or ambiguous data will be discussed with the observer <br />and study team leader. All changes made to the raw data must be documented for future <br />reference. <br />After the data have been keyed and verified, the study team leader or QA/QC technician will <br />check a five percent sample of data forms against the final computer file. Any problems <br />