Idaho Considers Controlling Cranes

Hunting

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted last week to consider issuing a few hunting permits for sandhill cranes to reduce crop damage the large birds are doing to some eastern Idaho farms.

The issue is on the agenda for the commission’s meeting May 11-12 in Cambridge.

Migrating birds fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which allow limited hunting of a variety of species, including tundra swans, snipe, doves and sandhill cranes. Idaho never has had a season on sandhill cranes, although hunting is allowed in Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The crane population in the Rocky Mountain region is estimated at 16,000.