Cranes contribute to area economy

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BY YANGKYOUNG LEE / For the Lincoln Journal Star

Margery Nicolson of California has visited Nebraska almost every spring since 1999 to watch the sandhill crane migration through the Platte River Valley. She volunteers as a guide at the Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, which thousands of people visit each year to see the cranes.

   A retired biochemist, Nicolson has volunteered at Rowe since 2001.

   "This morning I heard one tourist saying, 'This is the closest place I can get close to God. I am not a religious person, but I could understand what she meant."

   Every spring, 80 percent of the world's population of sandhill cranes - about half a million - rests in the Platte Valley during the long journey to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. When they leave - together with thunderous sound - they leave behind awe in the minds of visitors.

   They also leave behind an economic boost to local communities.

   Visitors come from around the country and from 30 to 40 foreign countries. According to a 1998 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study - the latest available - the annual economic impact of the crane migration ranges from $21.8  million to $48.5 million. The study said birders who stay in the area for three days spend about $285 each on such things as lodging, food and gasoline.

   Sandhill cranes have been around for more than 60 million years, and the oldest recorded sandhill crane fossil found in Nebraska is 10 million years old, but communities near the Platte River only recently recognized their potential economic importance.

   "It was only 15 years ago when we stared getting involved in advertising and promoting the crane migration aggressively," said Tricia Beem, assistant director of Grand Island/Hall County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

   The Chambers of Commerce in Grand Island, Kearney and Hastings promote the migration on their Web sites. When requested, the Grand Island and Kearney chambers send packets including maps, information on cranes, lodging, restaurants and other entertainment sources. Both groups also print brochures and advertise in birder magazines and newspapers.

   Kearney Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau President Roger Jasnoch said his group spends $6,000 to $8,000 a year to advertise the cranes.

   The Rowe Sanctuary - owned and managed by the National Audubon Society - has four blinds where visitors may, for a fee, view the cranes in the morning and evening March 5 through April 10.  About 20,000 people visit the sanctuary each year, most during spring migration.

   Kirk Summers, a 30-year-old farmer, his wife, Jennifer and their 18-month-old son live next to the Rowe Sanctuary.

   Summers, who has seen tourists come and go since he was a child, said he has mixed feelings about tourists. They bring money to the community, he said, but some things bother him.

   He spoke of a busload of tourists from the East Coast stopped in front of his farm one day. They saw cranes foraging on cow manure, and one woman exclaimed: "Oh, I thought cranes were cleaner than that."

   Summers said this incident shows some visitors' limited knowledge of both farming and nature.

   "A lot of them think I am destroying the nature when they see me farming," he said. "They just can't see agriculture and wildlife can coexist."

   For Summers, the season involves a familiar ritual that links the two.

   "When I hear the cranes' sounds and see them in the sky, I know spring is coming. I know baby calves will come out soon. You just grow up with that."

   Yangkyoung Lee, a news-editorial major, is a student in the science-writing class at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Reach her at lwillsurvive@ivansergei.zzn.com