Save Our Sandhill Cranes (SOS Cranes) is a non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining open-space habitat and the conservation of the California Central Valley's Sandhill crane populations through education, outreach, and community activism. Of particular concern to SOS Cranes are the threats to the remaining suitable winter habitats in the Central Valley of California. Pending urban development and the shift from corn and rice production to vineyards is likely to dramatically diminish what little remains of the winter migratory habitat of the Lesser and Greater Sandhill Cranes in this region. The Greater Sandhill Crane, which is a state-listed threatened species, exhibits a high degree of loyalty to its specific wintering grounds, and any disturbance there will result in them being uprooted. If we lose the present population, it is highly unlikely that Sandhill Cranes from another location and population will come and take their place. The Lesser Sandhill Cranes constitute two smaller subspecies of the Sandhill Crane and are subject to the same threats of habitat loss as the Greater Sandhill Cranes.

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Our Sandhill Cranes are back! They, as well as a variety of ducks, swans, geese, and shorebirds, feed in the flooded fields and marshy areas of the delta, and hawks patrol overhead. Meet at the Cosumnes River Preserve Visitor Center deck at 3:30 p.m. to hear a brief presentation of Sandhill Crane behavior, biology and status. Then we'll stroll the boardwalk in the Lost Slough Wetlands, enjoying views of the cranes, wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. Afterwards, we'll drive along Desmond Road and possibly to Woodbridge Road or Staten Island, to see flocks of cranes fly in to roost for the night. Dress for changeable weather and bring binoculars. Scopes are helpful. From Sacramento, take I-5 south to Twin Cities Road; go left (east) to the stop sign at Franklin Blvd.; turn right (south) on Franklin and, driving through the Preserve, watch for the Visitor Center parking lot on your left. Further directions and maps are available at www.cosumnes.org. This is a great trip for beginners.

November: 26 & 27

December: 24 & 25

January: 29 (we will also be at the Galt Winter Bird Festival on January 28th. More info. available at their webpage.)

February: 25 & 26

This link will take you to the livestream from a webcam located at the Cosumnes River Preserve. It operates from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. Best wildlife viewing occurs October through February, when waterfowl and other water birds spend the winter at the Preserve. This is also the best time to see our Sandhill Cranes.

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A YouTube video of a most unusual goose. Click here to check it out.

If you do see this silly goose, please, please let us know exactly where.

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Here is a link to a story from Oregon Public Broadcasting about the research being done by Gary Ivey on our cranes.

He has also co-authored a report on the local habitat needs of Greater Sandhill Cranes, available at the Cosumnes River Preserve's website.

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The application for an expansion of the Mustang Airport, surrounded on three sides by a bird santuary, has been withdrawn. This threat to crane habitat has, for now, been averted thanks to a broad-based public outcry. Further details can be obtained by sending a request to yogoombah (an @ sign) yahoo (then a .) com

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The following is an editorial from the Sacramento Bee published March 22, 2010. If you only get involved in local issues once or twice a year, this is one you should consider. This expansion will ruin lots of wildlife habitat and destroy a lot of agriculture.

The Sacramento region on April 2 celebrates the first five years of its award-winning Blueprint, a voluntary framework for reducing congestion and sprawl. Eight hundred people have signed up for an event to take stock of progress.

The hard-won Blueprint culminated in a map that set an "urban services boundary" to accommodate projected growth out to 2050. Sacramento, West Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Roseville and Rocklin have aggressively implemented it.

But the Blueprint is threatened at its southern boundary.

Elk Grove, which became a city in 2000, is seeking to extend its "sphere of influence," the precursor to annexation - from 27,000 acres to 37,500 acres. The city proposes to expand south from Kammerer Road and southeast from Grant Line Road, right up to the Cosumnes River and into the floodplain - well beyond the urban service boundary.

Oddly, the city is seeking expansion at a time when growth has dried up. Elk Grove's residential building permits peaked in 2004 at 4,666 and have been dropping since - to 427 in 2008. Elk Grove was a poster child for a bubble economy over-reliant on housing and has suffered foreclosure rates much higher than the county or state.

This city is in no danger of outstripping Blueprint growth projections. The proposed expansion is unnecessary. A symbol of the folly of expansion is the half-finished, abandoned Elk Grove Promenade mall and the largely unpopulated Laguna Ridge housing area.

Unfortunately, the expansion effort already has gone too far. The Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission hired a consultant to do an environmental impact report on March 3. And Sacramento County, which had rebuffed previous Elk Grove attempts to expand its sphere of influence, has drafted a memorandum of understanding that would accept Elk Grove's proposed boundary. It goes to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in May.

Elk Grove's proposed expansion appears to be a developer-driven move that needlessly violates the Blueprint's urban services boundary and encroaches on the Cosumnes River Basin, the jewel of the south area.

Those who support the Blueprint need to stand up to stop this misguided effort - and urge the Elk Grove City Council to withdraw its expansion application.