Operation Migration is in serious need of our help. I'll give quick background first, but please continue to read below: most of you are probably familiar with
Operation Migration, whether or not you know them by name. They're an excellent organization, founded in 1994, to tackle the challenge of imprinting migration behavior into captive-raised birds by leading them in ultralite aircraft, with the hopes of one day reestablishing the critically endangered
Whooping Crane to its historical eastern migration route. Starting with captive raised Canada Geese, the organization embarked on a process that was made famous in numerous NPR stories and the Academy-Award nominated documentary film
Fly Away Home.
(more below)
After perfecting the technique of raising birds to be attached to ultralites with non-endangered geese & Sandhill Cranes, and following
many successful migrations from Wisconsin to Florida, the team flew the migration route with its first captive-bred group of Whooping Cranes in 2001. This work is undeniably important, as after years of habitat destruction, hunting, and other environmental degradations, the just over 200 remaining Whooping Cranes all breed and winter in just one location each - Wood Buffalo NP in Alberta & Aransas NWR in Texas, respectively - the ecological equivalent of keeping all your eggs in one basket (in fact, the largest remaining population of Whooping Cranes not in the migratory "Wood Buffalo" flock, was wiped out by a single hurricane in Louisiana in 1937).
This is a class-act organization with incredibly high scientific standards - really a model for all captive release programs. Their birds are imprinted on Whooping Crane puppets, they never see a human outside of WC costumes, never hear a human voice while being reared, and with the exception to being imprinted on the ultralites (necessary to the process), they're kept out of contact with the human world as much as possible, especially on the migration route. Their standards have led to a remarkably high survival rate in the reintroduced flock.
Four years later, the Operation Migration team is en route with this year's class of Whooping Cranes, currently stopped on a host farm in rural Georgia. Their stories from over the years are amazing, and they do an excellent job of keeping the public informed of everything that happens with the program at their website. Unfortunately, this has been a very bad year for the program. Already strapped for funding, the program was dealt a major blow last week (11/30) when a reckless driver in SE Tennessee forced their ground fleet into a fairly serious accident. Here is the account of the accident in the words of Joe Duff, one of the program's pilots:
While waiting for the ground crew to arrive we received a message that there had been an accident. Driving in a caravan, our large pick-up truck pulling our house trailer had to stop short for an inconsiderate motorist and our other large truck pulling the aircraft trailer rear ended him. Operation Migration owns four vehicles, courtesy of many supporters, and in one moment, three of them were damaged. Our Ford 350 received front-end damage including a buckled hood. Both airbags deployed but no one was hurt. The hitch snapped and the trailer drove into the back of the truck causing rear end damage but it is drivable. Richard, Brooke and I drove north in a car borrowed from our hosts and made repairs to get them on the road. Our house trailer is 34 feet long and not really built for the kind of use we give it. It is our home all summer and the main kitchen on the migration. As we drove south we realized that the accident had bent the frame and it tracked sideways on the road. It will likely make the trip to Florida but probably not back. Just when we were beginning to reach a level of funding that would see us through, we now must cover damages of close to $20,000.00
Although I'm not a native to this state, the idea that a fellow Tennessean could have inflicted so much damage on Operation Migration in one single act of carelessness is one that I can't easily accept without trying to do something to fix the situation. I consider this one of the most important endangered species recovery programs in North America, and I just can't see letting it take an unrecoverable hit of 20 grand because of one stupid person (it's probably that damned bleeding heart of mine).
They need financial help to recover from this serious loss. I've been in touch with Liz Condie, Operation Migration's COO & Director of Communications & Fund Development (look at that title - this woman is a true non-profit hero. At the relatively small NP where I work, her job is done by 4 people) - there is currently no one stepping to the plate to help cover the costs & I know they'd appreciate any help we can give.
If you feel so called, please consider going to their website and making a donation (if you'd rather send a check, they'll gladly accept that too).
Also, please add "vehicle repair fund" to the notes, and especially remember to add the $.01 to your donation - I'll make sure they know where those are coming from. And in honor of our chairman, I think we should do this the Dean way (a.k.a. the right way): a bunch of small donations will go a long way to help Operation Migration get over this obstacle without putting an undue financial burden on the donors.
Furthermore, Operation Migration has a number of giving options for the migration program itself, if you'd prefer that, as well as the option to get gift memberships (great for the Holiday Season).
I sincerely appreciate anyone who chooses to help. They've been one of my favorites for a long time. If you can't help financially, still check out the ways to get involved page, and read their migration updates to stay well informed.
Also, this is a distinctly non-political organization, and I'm sure they have many Republicans who graciously donate to Operation Migration, so I ask that we be considerate of that fact in the comments section so that no one can try to use this against them in the future (not that they would, I just wanna be very careful).
And just one final note: like many people who read this site, I'm sensitive to politicians and others who treat this site like an ATM, which led to an initial reluctance to post this diary. But after a couple days of thinking back to all of the outpours of generosity Kossacks have displayed over the years, I decided that it'd be a mistake not to put out an appeal to help for fear of offending others (which I do honestly hope I haven't done).