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<br />The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, acting under authority of a State law that
<br />allows protection of instream flow for wildlife, has identified and will be requesting
<br />protection of specifiC instream flows that will help maintain remaining river roosting habitat
<br />and'adjacent wetland meadows, The Nebraska Dep~rtment of Water Resources must issue
<br />a water right permit for wildlife if existing instream flows are to be protected from future
<br />diversion. Efforts are being made by the U,S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nebraska Game and
<br />Parks Commission, the Trust, and environmental groups, through a Federal Energy
<br />Regulatory Commission power generation relicensing process, to secure the release of water
<br />stored in Lake McConaughy into the PlattEiRiver. Such releases would supplement natural
<br />flows, increasing the quantity and quality of whooping crane roosting habitat and helping
<br />maintain wetland meadows.
<br />
<br />The Service has been studying availability of suitabl~ migration stopover habitat within the
<br />, United States (Stahlecker 1988, 1991, 1993) and this work should continue over the next
<br />few years,
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<br />Winterina Grounds Research: Despite intensive studies of whooping cranes on the
<br />wintering grounds by Allen in the late 1940's, some ,jmportant questions remained
<br />unanswered, More detailed information was needeq on the food habits, on food availability
<br />in relation to climatic conditions, on spatial requiremllnts and territorial behavior in an
<br />expanding population, and on the effects of increasihg human activities in and around the
<br />cranes' habitat, With more of this information available, better management planning and
<br />evaluation would be possible.
<br />
<br />A study of potential whooping crane food organisms and related physical factors was
<br />conducted in 1963 and early 1964 by Bill Van Tries and Gordon Folzenlogen of the Service.
<br />In Novembar 1970, the NAS assigned David R. Blanl<inship to conduct research on
<br />wintering whooping cranes at Aransas NWR and adjacent islands and peninsulas. Findings
<br />on territorial, subadult flocks, adult-young relationships, feeding ecology, parasites, and
<br />other aspects of wintering ecology have been published (Blankinship 1976, Forrester et al.
<br />1978, Bishop and Blankinship 1982, Bishop 1984), '
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<br />Hunt (1987) studied upland habitats at Aransas NWR in the early 1980's. Objectives were
<br />to identify environmental conditions associated with the use of upland habitats by whooping
<br />cranes and sandhill cranes, to determine the effects of refuge management practices on
<br />upland habitat, and to determine the relative importance of food items consumed by cranes
<br />in the uplands. Based on fecal analysis, foods utiliz!ld included blue crabs, clams ITaaelus
<br />~.), snails (Melamous coffeus), acorns, and wolf berry, Whooping cranes used portions of
<br />upland pastures which were open, close to the wetland edge, and away from sources of
<br />human disturbance, Periodic upland burning increased the' visual openness of the habitat,
<br />oak stem density, and the availability of acorns (Hunt 1987).
<br />
<br />The wintering territories of whooping cranes on the ,Texas coast place the birds in close
<br />proximity to several human-induced disturbance factors. These factors include tour boats
<br />with the purpose of watching cranes, 24-hour boat ,and barge traffic along the GIWW,
<br />recreation' and commercial (including hunting, angli~g, crabbing, and oyster,ing) traffic, and
<br />aerial overflights. The extent to which whooping cranes are exposed to the above factors
<br />varies among the different use localities because restrictions and practices differ in the
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