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Several years ago we started our quest to find the perfect small farm in southern Wisconsin. We were surprised and delighted to find a marshy wetland area at the rear of a property surrounded by protective woodlands. As we walked closer, we saw a family of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) happily training their young to fly on the gently sloping hillside. Watching them over a period of a few days allowed us to verify that their nesting ground was in the marsh. We researched the cranes and found that Sandhill Cranes primarily live in or near open freshwater and nest in surrpounding wetlands and shallow marshes. The cranes utilize a broad range of habitat types, from bogs, sedge meadows, and fens to open grasslands, pine savannahs and even some cultivated land. Sandhill Cranes are omnivorous, feeding on a wide variety of plant materials including waste grains, corn stubble, small vertebrates and invertebrates, both on land and in shallow wetlands.

The leading threat to the species is the loss and degradation of wetland habitats, especially ecological and hydrological changes in important staging areas. Loss of suitable roosting habitat has concentrated the migrating cranes, increasing the risks associated with disease, disturbance, and other threats.

Since the decline of the Sandhill Crane in the first half of the 1900s, extensive conservation measures have been undertaken on its behalf. Priority conservation measures for the species include: protection, restoration, and management of critical breeding, migration, and wintering habitat; implementation of conservation programs and incentives that involve private landowners; research to improve understanding of the size, status, dynamics, distribution, and movements of populations; and clarification of intraspecific genetic structure and phylogenetic relationships.

We knew, that as we do for our dogs, we must do provide what we can to extend their lives and offer them a secure place to live. We decided to not only purchase the farm, but to name it and our fledging kennel, Sandhill.

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