A friend sent me the following information which I thought would be of
interest:

=09The Idaho Fish & Game Commission made two significant changes to the
classification of Sandhill Cranes yesterday:

1. They changed the Crane's legal classification from
migratory non-game birds to migratory game birds, and

2. They set a restricted condition permit hunt on Crane from
September 1, 1996 through September 30, 1996. 20 cranes can be killed
during the hunt. [The figure 20 was picked because 20 birds were not killed
in Utah under the quota set by FWS, which was 545 birds out of the rocky
Mountain flock in all states. Idaho acted too late to get its full share of
the quota.]=20

=09Hunting permits will be issued to ADC and Fish & Game
personnel. No permits will be issued to the public for this particular
hunt.

Background:

In the spring of 1995, Idaho proposed setting a hunting season for
Sandhill Crane. Idaho could have permitted 115 cranes to be killed under
FWS quotas that year. There was much public outcry; the F&G Commission
backed off and did not change the classification of crane. The Commission
did establish a working group "to explore all methods possible to reduce
crop damage by cranes."=20

The working group recently issued their report, but the report was
not made available to the general public. According to a press release, the
report suggested a strategy involving "a group of proposals including
depredation kill permits issued by USFWS, scheduling of September goose
hunts in the affected areas to harass cranes away from crops, and planting
of lure crops to attract cranes."

At its May 10th meeting the Commission "declined to authorize a
1997 sport hunting season on sandhill crane. The season was proposed by
Commissioner Roy Brown of Soda Springs and supported by commissioners
Wesley Rose of Jerome and Jeff Siddoway of Terreton. Commissioners Richard
Meiers of Eagle and Keith Carlson of Lewiston opposed the season, along
with Commissioner Dick Hansen of Bayview, who voted against the season
because of a lack of public review of the current proposal." (All quotes
from IDFG 5-20-96 press release.)

The notice/news release for the F&G Commission meeting in Soda
Springs (June 11-12) stated "The Commission will review federal response to
the request for depredation kill permits at its July 11 meeting in Soda
Springs."

Idaho F&G applied to FWS for depredation kill permits. About 1 1/2
weeks ago, FWS refused to issue kill permits and noted that Idaho still had
the opportunity to hunt crane, because of the 20 left over from the Utah
quota.

Commissioner Roy Brown, apparently, made the motion to change the
classification of sandhill yesterday morning (June 11th) after the federal
refusal to issue depredation kill permits was reviewed. The motion to set
the limited hunt was made in the afternoon. The legal mechanism used was
temporary rulemaking, though there are no hard copies of the temporary
rules.

Why this is significant:
1. There was no public comment.
2. The Commission took its action without any notice at all to the
public.
3. The action taken by the Commission was not an action recommended
by the working group it created to study the problem.
4. The change in classification to migratory game bird opens up the
possibility of Idaho requesting its quota from FWS for 1997 and setting a
public hunting season.
5. According to materials provided in the past to the public by
F&G, the greater bulk of problems in Idaho caused by sandhill cranes occur
in the spring. Under FWS rules, a hunting season in Idaho can only be set
between September 1 and September 30. If the purpose is to kill the
specific birds that are causing the problems, hunting will probably not be
effective.
6. According to the Available figures, in 1995 the Rocky Mountain
sandhill crane flock number 16,000 at that point, which was down from
22,000 in 1990. This is not a flock whose numbers are increasing.
7. Cranes mate for life and live up to 20-25 years. A crane pair
will successfully produce only 1-2 offspring during their lifetimes.

Possible actions to take:
1. Call Governor Batt -- (208)334-2100 -- and make appropriate
comments. Under Idaho Code =A7 67-5226, the governor has to act to make a
temporary rule proposed by an agency effective.
2. Call the Idaho Department of Fish and Game -- Gary Will
(208)334-2920 -- and tell the Department what you think of the
Commissioners' action.
3. Call your Fish & Game Commissioner and either congratulate him
on his wise vote against or ask him how he could dare to vote in favor of
killing sandhill cranes in Idaho.

When I commented to Gary Will this morning that members of Audubon
might be outraged, Gary said to me, "There will be plenty of birds left for
Audubon to look at." But merely looking at a diminishing population of
sandhill cranes is not the issue. I was surprised that Gary did not know
that.

My clients and I are thinking about litigation. Though, calls to
Governor Batt might be more effective in the long run. But, I would
appreciate knowing what other people think.

I do have a bit more information if someone wants to contact me:
By e-mail: debkberg at micron.net
By telephone: (208)726-5120.