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Plane crazy: US legislation brings whooping crane migration to a halt

12/01/2012 10:23:56

DELAY: The whooping crane migration has had to put on hold

Alabama's ultralight-led migration on hold

January 2012: Alabama's ultralight-led migration of whooping cranes in the eastern population has been put on hold, after regulatory problems regarding the paying of pilots.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's partner managing this portion of the effort, Operation Migration, has applied for a waiver exempting them from Federal Aviation Administration's regulation that prohibits compensating pilots of this category of aircraft, but is still waiting for a decision.

Nine young whooping cranes began their first migration from Wisconsin following the ultralights in autumn last year. Operation Migration began leading sandhill cranes as a study group in 2000, and has been piloting ultralight aircraft to successfully lead whooping cranes on an Eastern Migratory route each year since 2001.

Update - FAA Grants Waiver Allowing Ultralight-led Migration to Continue

The ultralight-led migration of nine whooping cranes, on hold in Franklin County, Alabama, pending FAA clearance, has been given the green light.

"As soon as the weather clears, we will be back flying," said David Sakrison, Operation Migration Board Member. "We appreciate the work FAA has done to help us get back in the air."

Statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
"The FAA has granted an exemption to Operation Migration that will allow pilots to continue to aid the whooping crane migration. Normally, the FAA limits light sport aircraft and pilots to personal flights without compensation. Because the operation is in "mid-migration," the FAA is granting a one-time exemption so the migration can be completed. The FAA will work with Operation Migration to develop a more comprehensive, long-term solution."

Hoping for no ‘significant' delays
The many international partners in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) are monitoring developments and hope for a speedy resolution on the waiver.

‘WCEP is considering alternatives for the whooping cranes if approval of a waiver is significantly delayed,' said Peter Fasbender, Field Project Leader for the Fish and Wildlife Service's Green Bay Ecological Services Field Office in New Franken, Wisconsin.

‘Options could include releasing the cranes at nearby refuges, or possibly transporting them to release sites in Florida.'

The whooping cranes are safe inside protective enclosures during the delay.

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