Madison, WI- Representative Paul Tittl (R-Manitowoc) is pleased to advance a bill which begins the process of establishing a sandhill crane hunting season in Wisconsin.
“It’s a great day for hunters, farmers, and conservationists,” said Tittl. “This proposal is based on science, conservation, and the Wisconsin Constitution.”
Key factors of the bill include:
- Requires the Department of Natural Resources to classify the sandhill crane as a migratory game bird and authorize the hunting of sandhill cranes in Wisconsin, subsequent to approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- DNR establishes hunting zones and conducts a sandhill crane hunter education program.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife determines the number of sandhill cranes that can be harvested each hunting season.
- Opens up the Wildlife Damage Abatement Fund to farmers who report damage from sandhill cranes, subsequent to approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Wisconsin farmers report almost $2M in damages each year caused by sandhill cranes.)
Tittl includes that Wisconsin will be joining three other states in the eastern flyway and seventeen states that allow hunting of sandhill cranes if signed into law. (Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee). The bill will now wait to be taken up in the Wisconsin State Senate.
The 25th Assembly District includes portions of Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties
