The U.S. National Park Service has made sur- 

 veys and will recommend National Landmark 

 status for some lands included within the proposed 

 Federal refuge boundaries. 



The Jackson County, Mississippi, Board of 

 Supervisors passed a resolution supporting pur- 

 chase of a county school section by the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service to become part of the Fountaine- 

 bleau Unit of the refuge. 



The Mississippi Game and Fish Commission 

 has participated in sandhill crane studies and pro- 

 tection for many years. It has cooperated with 

 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in crane pro- 

 pagation since 1965 by approving and assisting 

 taking of eggs. It approved establishment of a 

 Federal crane refuge in 1971. 



The National Wildlife Federation and Missis- 

 sippi Wildlife Federation filed a federal court 

 action against the Department of Transportation, 

 Federal Highway Administration, and Mississippi 

 Highway Department for violations of Section 7, 

 Endangered Species Act for construction of Inter- 

 state Highway I- 10 through the Mississippi Sand- 

 hill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. They asked 

 the court for elimination of an interchange on the 

 Gautier-Vancleave Road, the elimination of bor- 

 row pits in the sensitive area, and the acquisition 

 of lands by the highway agencies to mitigate the 

 loss of critical habitat by the highway. 



If it is concluded that the present population 

 of Mississippi sandhill cranes is doomed to extinc- 

 tion because of impaired reproduction resulting 

 from inbreeding, it may be justified to try a gene- 

 tic infusion of another strain such as that of the 

 Florida or Georgia populations of the Florida 

 Sandhill Crane. This would be with hope of con- 

 tinuing to have a crane population in the remnant 

 habitat now occupied by the Mississippi subspecies. 

 This might be accomplished by placing eggs of 

 Florida Sandhills in the nests of Mississippi birds, 

 which would act as foster parents. This action 

 would be taken only as a last ditch option (MSCRT 

 1976). Critical habitat has been designated in 

 Jackson County, Mississippi (42FR39985, 8 

 August 1977). 



AUTHORITIES 



Lawrence H. Walkinshaw 

 1145 Scenic Drive 

 Muskegon, Michigan 49445 



Robert E. Noble 



Department of Forestry and Wildlife Manage- 

 ment 

 Louisiana State University 

 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 



William H. Turcotte 



Mississippi Game amd Fish Commission 



P.O. Box 451 



Jackson, Mississippi 39205 



Jacob M. Valentine, Jr. 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 1 1 1 East Main St. 

 Lafayette, Louisiana 70501 



PREPARER'S COMMENTS 



The Mississippi sandhill crane has had the 

 benefit of adequate study to show, in detail, what 

 is necessary to prevent its extinction. However, its 

 habitat and population have been reduced to such 

 a small remnant by drainage and planting for pine 

 timber production, and human population expan- 

 sion and economic pressures are becoming so 

 great in and around the crane's habitat, that only 

 an overwhelming public sentiment to do every- 

 thing possible for it can save the Mississippi sand- 

 hill crane. 



LITERATURE CITED/SELECTED 

 REFERENCES 



Aldrich, J. W. 1972. A new subspecies of sandhill 

 crane from Mississippi. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 

 85:63-70. 



Cooke, W. W. 1914. Distribution and migration of 

 North American rails and their allies. U.S. 

 Dept. Agric. Bull. 128. 



Figgins, J. D. 1923. The breeding birds of the 

 vicinity of Black Bayou and Bird Island, 

 Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Auk 40:666-667. 



Hamilton, R. S. 1971. Central Southern Region. 

 Amer. Birds 25:590. 



Howell, A. H. 1928. Birds of Alabama (2nd Ed.) 

 U.S. Dept. of Agric. Bur. Biol. Surv. and Ala. 

 Dept. of Game and Fisheries. 



Imhof, T. A. 1962. Alabama birds. Dept. of Con- 

 servation, Game and Fish Div. Univ. Alabama 

 Press. 



James, F. G. 1972. Central Southern Region. 

 Amer. Birds 26:616. 



