Warm off the press – it came out in the Grand Forks paper last week (sorry, the format is a tadbit off):

Switch to underground cable benefits whooping cranes

From the article:

FEMA consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which concurred that burying the lines benefits the cranes. Service officials say collisions with power lines are the No. 1 source of mortality in whooping crane chicks.  “When descending or taking off, the cranes are often unable to avoid power lines,” Jeffrey Towner, field supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Bismarck, said in a statement. “Their large body is not so maneuverable, and visibility may be limited during inclement weather or low light conditions.”

And lo and behold, there are whooping cranes in the Carleton College Arboretum.  That’s just a couple of miles south of where they want to stick CapX 2020’s Brookings-Hampton line.

The male is 7-07, and the female is 39-07:

Photos: Whooping cranes in the Arb

Whooping Cranes Make Rare Visit to Northfield

Update on Northfield sighting of Whooping Cranes

Thanks to Carleton College and Griff Wigley for getting this information out.

Here’s a study out last year – out of 17 dead whooping cranes, transmission lines killed three of them:

Postmortem Evaluation of Reintroduced Whooping Cranes in Eastern North America