STAFFORD, Kan. -- Mar 24 - Tulsa World

Whooping cranes, one of the world's rarest birds, have waged a valiant battle against extinction. But federal officials warn of a new potential threat to the endangered whoopers: wind farms.

Down to as few as 16 in 1941, the gargantuan birds that migrate 2,400 miles each fall from Canada to Texas, thanks to conservation efforts, now number about 266.

But because wind energy, one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy, has gained such traction, whooping cranes could again be at risk.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that as many as 40,000 turbines will be put up in the U.S. section of the cranes' 200-mile-wide corridor, which runs roughly from the Northwest Territories in Canada through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

"Even if they avoid killing the cranes, the wind farms would be taking hundreds of square miles of migration stopover habitat away from the cranes," said Tom Stehn, the service's whooping crane coordinator.

The American Wind Energy Association, which says the industry grew in the U.S. by 45 percent in 2007, also says its 1,400 members don't want their turbines, power lines, transmission towers and roads to hurt the cranes, which are protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty.

"We would hate to see any collisions with whooping cranes," said Laurie Jodziewicz, the association's manager of siting policy.

But she said the wind industry, which is now in 34 states and provided about 1 percent of the nation's energy last year, will continue to grow in the crane's migration corridor and shouldn't be subject to regulations that don't apply to other industries.

"It's a very windy area," Jodziewicz said of the migration corridor. "We certainly want to work toward minimizing impacts, but there is a real driver behind wind energy, which is the need for clean, renewable electricity."

Although Stehn and others say no whooping cranes have been killed by a wind turbine and that they hope the cranes will avoid the wind farms, they remain concerned.

There are three flocks of whooping cranes in North America, with a total of about 525 whooping cranes in the wild and in captivity.

But the flock of 266 that migrates through the central U.S. from Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Austwell, Texas, is the only self-sustaining flock.

That means it is also the species' best chance for survival, Stehn said.

Whooping cranes, which are about 5 feet tall and have a 7-1/ 2-foot wing span, normally fly at altitudes of between 500 and 5,000 feet, room enough to clear the turbines, which range in height from about 200 feet to 295 feet, and their blades, with diameters from 230 feet to 295 feet.

The problem, Stehn said, is that the cranes stop at night.

"It's actually the landing and taking off that's problematic," he said. "That's when they're most likely to encounter the turbines and transmission towers."

Stehn said wind farms could also become problematic if they discourage the cranes from stopping in a known area and force them to seek other stopping grounds.

"Will there be food in that area?" he asked. "Will there be predators?"

Stehn said it was likely inevitable that whooping cranes would be harmed by the wind industry. But he said wind companies could take steps "to make up for the negative."

The most common known cause of death for whooping cranes is crashing into power lines. Stehn said the industry could help by marking its power lines, which run from transmission towers.

"Each crane is precious when you only have 266," he said.

Originally published by MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER Associated Press.

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