The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, in partnership with the Necedah Lions Club and other members of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, will participate in the second annual "Necedah Whooping Crane Festival." The festival is scheduled for Sept. 21 and 22 at NAB Field in Necedah, Wisc.
"Saturdays events will highlight the whooping crane restoration project and its importance to Juneau county and the Necedah community," said Larry Wargowsky, Refuge Manager, Necedah NWR.
The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, a coalition of state, federal and non-governmental conservation organization, will present educational seminars relating to the whooping crane restoration project. There will also be childrens games, wildlife and historical exhibits as well as arts and crafts booths and a "crane dance."
Attendees will be able to tour Necedah National Wildlife Refuge on buses. Refuge staff will guide these tours through the cranes habitat on the refuge. Festival visitors will also be treated to a rare flyover by the cranes and the ultralights which lead them, weather permitting.
Saturdays festivities will begin with a pancake breakfast and conclude with the flyover and a steak feed. A bike ride through the refuge and a golf outing are planned for Sunday.
Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is the summer home of the only migrating flock of whooping cranes in the eastern U.S. Last year, the flock made its first migration from Necedah to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. The cranes are led on their migration south by ultralight aircraft. They are raised and trained to follow the ultralights at Necedah NWR.
This years flock of 17 crane chicks has been in training for several months, and should begin their migration in early October. The Necedah Crane Festival may be one of the final opportunities to see the cranes before they go south for the winter.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, visit our website at " facehttp://midwest.fws.gov
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