Songbirds, Whooping Cranes Focus Of Two Projects Goal Of One Is To Lead Whoopers South With Ultralight Aircraft

Two Idaho conservation projects have been awarded more than $100,000 in grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The Sustainable Ecosystems Institute received $74,100 for the “Fragmentation in Pacific Northwest Forests” project, which will study neotropical migratory birds in the forests near Donnelly and Bovill.

The goal is to determine whether there are bird productivity problems in Western forests and evaluate the impact of agriculture and forestry on breeding songbird populations.

Potlatch Corp., Boise Cascade Corp. and the Forest Service are among those cooperating in the study. The federal grant will be matched by $148,300 from other sources.

The other $26,800 grant goes to studying whether ultralight aircraft can be used to lead whooping cranes that were raised in captivity on their 745-mile migration from southeastern Idaho to a central New Mexico wintering area.

One goal of the ultralight project is to determine whether the birds will migrate back to Idaho in the spring without human assistance.

Ultra Air Research LLC received the grant, which will be matched by $53,500 from other sources.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was established by Congress in 1984. It works toward partnerships between the public and private sectors to solve environmental problems.