Wisconsinites can now purchase the new “Cranes of Wisconsin” license plate featuring two species of cranes native to North America and Wisconsin: the sandhill crane and the endangered whooping crane.
Wisconsin artist Jay Jocham designed the plate, and strives to raise awareness for endangered wildlife and habitats through his art. For over 37 years, he has created art that has helped conservation groups fund programs to protect wildlife.
Jocham has done work for the International Crane Foundation previously, including a series of six murals totaling over 1,100 feet in 2020, which are displayed at the International Crane Foundation’s headquarters.
Sandhill cranes and whooping cranes are two crane species found in Wisconsin and throughout North America. It’s estimated that there are at least 40,000 sandhill cranes in Wisconsin and their population is steadily increasing.
Historically, whooping cranes were hunted for hat-making, trophy hunting, museum collections, sustenance and recreation. In the early 1900s, settlers also overtook the crane’s wetland breeding grounds and native prairies for farming, leaving whooping cranes on the brink of extinction with only 21 individuals left in the wild. Fortunately, that number has since grown to approximately 836 whooping cranes alive today.
Whooping cranes are still endangered, but their rise in numbers is largely due to the International Crane Foundation’s conservation efforts to reintroduce an experimental flock of whooping cranes to Wisconsin’s wetlands starting in 2001. Known as the Eastern Migratory Population, this population hosts nearly 80 whooping cranes to date.
For each ‘Cranes of Wisconsin’ license plate purchased and subsequent annual registration, the International Crane Foundation will receive a $25 tax deductible donation. Funds from the license plate will support two of the foundation’s “key projects” in Wisconsin: the continued efforts to reintroduce the whooping crane and the resolution of crop damage caused by sandhill cranes.
“The issue of crop damage by cranes is one of great importance here in Wisconsin,” Dr. Rich Beilfuss, president and CEO of the International Crane Foundation, said in a statement. “Our Wisconsin team is working hard to ensure that farmers get the help they need through in-the-field farmer outreach and policy advocacy. This Cranes of Wisconsin license plate will further that mission.”
The International Crane Foundation has a nearly 300-acre headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin, as well as offices and staff all around the globe, including China, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa and Texas. The Foundation works worldwide to conserve cranes and the ecosystems, watersheds and flyways on which they depend by providing knowledge, leadership and inspiration to engage people in resolving threats to cranes and their diverse landscapes.
In Wisconsin, the most commonly reported crop damage by sandhill cranes is feeding on recently planted corn seed. According to Sandhill Crane Ecology & Damage Management, when large flocks of cranes feed on planted fields, the damage they cause to an unprotected crop can be severe enough to force the farmer to replant the entire field.
Sandhill cranes are experts at using their long beaks and finding planted agricultural seeds such as corn. They remove individual corn seeds within the first few weeks after planting and continue to feed on the germinating seed until the corn plant reaches four to eight inches in height.
The International Crane Foundation has worked in Wisconsin’s agricultural communities for three decades to resolve the issue of crop damage by cranes, and it was especially instrumental in field-testing to prove the effectiveness of Avipel seed treatment, a non-toxic deterrent that prevents cranes from consuming freshly-planted corn seed, the news release said.
To purchase the International Crane Foundation’s “Cranes of Wisconsin” license plate and see what vehicles qualify, please visit Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s website.
For more information about the International Crane Foundation and how you can help, please visit: https://savingcranes.org/.
