RIGHT NOW – as you read this – I’m sitting in the Assembly Sporting Heritage Committee hearing on AB-117, the bill to legalize sport hunting of sandhill cranes.
WE ARE TESTIFYING ON YOUR BEHALF. WE ARE DOING THE WORK YOU CAN’T BE HERE TO DO.
The hearing started at 1:00 PM. The Senate already held theirs on November 19th. This is moving FAST.
Here’s What We’re Fighting:
🔴 83% of Wisconsin residents OPPOSE this hunt (only 17% support – UW Survey, 2,769 respondents)
🔴 They don’t actually want to help farmers – Governor Evers proposed a BIPARTISAN solution: $3.7 million to reimburse farmers for Avipel seed treatment that ACTUALLY prevents crop damage. The legislature STRIPPED IT from the budget. They removed the only thing that would have actually helped farmers.
🔴 This is about hunting, not agriculture – They admitted it in testimony. They call cranes “ribeye of the sky” and talk about how good they taste. This was never about helping farmers.
⚠️ THE SMOKING GUN ⚠️
State Senator Felzkowski literally held a CRANE MEAT TASTING at the Capitol on January 19th – serving “Italian Beef Style” sandhill crane sandwiches to legislators.
“Come try Sandhill Crane!” while claiming this is about crop damage.
This is what they’re really after. Not farmer relief. Trophy hunting and meat.
🔴 Experts testified hunting WON’T stop crop damage – Crop damage happens in spring. The hunt would be in fall. Cranes mate for life and are territorial – killing breeding pairs just opens up territory for MORE crop-damaging juvenile flocks. Science says this won’t work.
🔴 Endangered whooping cranes WILL be killed by mistake – It’s already happened in other states. Four men in Oklahoma were convicted of killing protected whooping cranes. Wisconsin has 65 whooping cranes.
🔴 Wisconsin is THE breeding ground – We’re the only state in the Eastern Population where they nest and raise young. What we do here affects the entire population.
⚠️ WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT ⚠️
Want to see what crane hunting actually looks like?
This footage is disturbing. Most people have no idea what they’re actually voting for.
This is the reality.
This Is What GLWA Does
We show up. We testify. We fight.
We’re a watchdog organization – we attend these hearings, we read every bill, we file the lawsuits, we submit the testimony, we hold them accountable when the process isn’t democratic or transparent.
WE DO THE WORK YOU CAN’T BE HERE TO DO.
Support This Work
We’re in the room fighting. Help us keep fighting.
$35
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Or whatever you can give – every dollar matters.
This isn’t about agriculture. It’s about trophy hunting. They had a real solution to help farmers and they rejected it. Now they’re serving crane sandwiches at the Capitol while the 83% majority gets ignored.
Sandhill cranes were reduced to 25 breeding pairs in the 1930s. Aldo Leopold thought they’d go extinct – he called them “the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution.” Now, after decades of protection and one of the greatest comeback stories in conservation history, legislators want to shoot them for sport.
We’re in the room fighting.
Fighting for the cranes from the Capitol,
Melissa Smith
Executive Director
Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance
P.S. – 83% of Wisconsin is against this. That’s a supermajority. We’re in this hearing representing YOU and that massive majority. If you can’t donate, SIGN THE PETITION and share this post with every voter you know. Help us make YOU heard.
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