MI HR0154

Encourages the Natural Resources Commission to add Sandhill cranes to Michigan's game species list and seek U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval for a hunting season.

Michigan's Sandhill crane population was estimated at 23,082 in 2015 and has grown an average of 9.4 percent annually over the past 10 years.

Nuisance permits issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to farmers for crane eradication increased from 13 in 2006 to 85 in 2013 due to crop damage during spring migration.

Sandhill cranes are already hunted in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Kentucky and are classified as a game species under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1916; hunting seasons would be regulated by the Mississippi Flyway Council and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Directs copies of the resolution to be transmitted to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director, and the Governor.