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The 38th annual Midwest Crane Count will take place at several U.S. Forest Service locations in Forest County April 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. The community is invited to join. The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest’s Lakewood-Laona Ranger District wildlife biology team is conducting the count.

The International Crane Foundation is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Baraboo. They sponsor the annual event as part of an effort to preserve and study the world’s 15 species of cranes and the natural communities on which they depend.

Sandhill cranes once experienced severe population declines in the late 1800s to early 1900s in the upper Midwest, but have recovered successfully.
In Forest County, 15 of the existing 22 observation sites are on Forest Service land. Local volunteers look for the cranes at designated locations, document their sightings and report their finding to the local coordinator.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Nicole Shutt at (715) 276-6333 or nshutt@fs.fed.us.