On 28 October 2005, Audubon Nebraska has selected two of our properties -- Wild Rose and Mormon Island --
as IBA's becasue they support significant numbers and a high diversity of birds. The Important Bird Area program
is a conservation and education effort of the National Audubon Society. For more information, please visit
http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/index.html .
The Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) announced 8 April 2005 that the Whooping Crane Trust's project to restore nesting
habitat along the Platte River has been approved for a total grant award in the amount of $75,250 through 2006.
NEWS RELEASE
5 November, 2003
For immediate
release
Platte
River Whooping Crane Trust Names New Executive Director
Wood River, NE -- Dr. Felipe
Chavez-Ramirez has been named the new Executive Director of the Platte
River Whooping Crane Trust by the Board of Trustees. The motion was made
effective October 1st , 2003. Chavez-Ramirez had been Acting
Executive Director since April following the sudden and tragic death of former
Executive Director Dr. Paul Currier. Chavez-Ramirez becomes the fifth
person to serve as Executive Director since the Whooping Crane Trust was
established in 1978. The three member Board of Trustees consists of Walt
Canney, Chairman, representing the Missouri Basin Power Company, Van
Korell, banker from McCook, Representing the State of Nebraska, and Tom
Dougherty, representing the National Wildlife Federation.
The board of Trustees felt that Dr. Chavez-Ramirez would
bring a new vision and focus to the Trust. "Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez's
education, work experience, commitment, and passion for cranes was deemed a
perfect match for the mission accomplishment of the Trust" said
board member Tom Dougherty. Walt Canney added that “Dr.
Chavez-Ramirez brings to the Trust outstanding academic and research
credentials, nationally and internationally. And, over the past 6 months as
Acting Executive Director he has demonstrated strong administrative
skills.”
Outside of Nebraska the news of the appointment of Dr.
Chavez-Ramirez was well received. Dr. George Archibald, Co-founder, Past
President, and current Chairman of the board of the International Crane
Foundation, in Baraboo, Wisconsin said “I am confident that crane researchers
and conservationists throughout the country are delighted that one of the
continent’s primary crane biologists and conservations, Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez,
has been selected as the Executive Director of the Platte River Whooping
Crane Trust. Through his remarkable work on the biology of Whooping Cranes
on their wintering grounds along the coast of Texas, Felipe revealed in
hard numbers the links between water qualities, blue crab availability, and
crane survival and reproduction. Through his mentoring of Cuban colleagues
in their studies of the endangered Cuban Sandhill Crane, a body of research
has been produced that links crane reproduction to the welfare of pristine
savanna habitat. Equally able to work effectively with cranes and people, I
cannot imagine a more appropriate person to lead an organization whose
mandate is the welfare of the Platte River ecosystem that includes both
cranes and humans.”
Chavez-Ramirez joined the Whooping Crane Trust staff as
Avian Ecologist in November of 2001. Before joining the Trust
Chavez-Ramirez held academic and administrative positions including faculty
member at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville,
and Director of the Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion Program for the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Chavez-Ramirez’s research is wide ranging but has
focused on conservation and ecology of migratory birds especially Whooping
Cranes, Cuban sandhill cranes, and grassland birds. Chavez-Ramirez has
written more than 30 research articles in conservation and ornithological
journals and presented more than 50 professional seminars and talks.
The Platte River Whooping Crane Trust is a non-profit
conservation organization involved in protection and management of habitat
for whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and more than 300 species of
migratory birds found in the Big Bend Reach of the Platte River Valley.
The Trust was established with a 7.5 million dollar endowment funded by
Missouri Basin Power Company, as part of a settlement agreement between the
project, the State of Nebraska and the National Wildlife Federation that
allowed the completion of the Grayrocks Dam and Reservoir in Wyoming. The
Trust currently owns and manages nearly 10,000 acres along the Platte River
in the Big Bend region of south central Nebraska.
For further information contact: Dr. Felipe
Chavez-Ramirez, Executive Director, Platte River Whooping Crane Trust at
308-384-4633.
Additional contacts:
Walt Canney (402) 489-2373
Tom Dougherty (303) 589-0961
Van Korrel (308)
345-1555
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