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The 2022 breeding season was a big success for Louisiana’s experimental whooping crane project as eight wild hatched chicks have fledged and been added to the Louisiana population. The eight chicks are the most in a single breeding season since the project was initiated by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) in 2011.
A total of 15 whooping crane chicks hatched this year with eight surviving to fledge. It brings the Louisiana population to 76, 16 of which were wild hatched in the state. The first wild hatched Louisiana chick came in April of 2016, the first to hatch in the state in more than 75 years.
Louisiana’s whooping crane reintroduction project began in 2011 when 10 juvenile whooping cranes from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center were released at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in Vermilion Parish to initiate the non-migratory flock. This marked a significant conservation milestone with the first wild whooping cranes in Louisiana since 1950. Support of partners, including Chevron, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon Nature Institute, Coypu Foundation, Entergy, Cameron LNG, SLEMCO, International Crane Foundation and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, have allowed LDWF to expand its effort in Louisiana.
“Eight chicks is the most we’ve ever had and it’s also the most that have ever fledged in a single year from any of the reintroduction projects nationwide,’’ said LDWF Biologist Sara Zimorski, who oversees the whooping crane project. “We can’t point out exactly why this was our best year. It could be partly the age and experience of the birds. We certainly have birds that have gained experience hatching and raising chicks over the previous few years, but we did also have some new pairs who were successful for the first time this year.”
Zimorski said dry conditions during the breeding season, which runs from February until June, may have also been a determining factor.
“I don’t think we’ve had a nesting season during a drought like we had this year,’’ Zimorski said. “Intuitively it doesn’t seem like that would be good, but according to some colleagues from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other species of water birds often have really good breeding success in drought years that follow wet years, which we definitely had last year. It’ll be interesting to see how the weather patterns correlate with breeding success going forward.’’
Whooping cranes are slow to mature and only lay one to two eggs during a nesting attempt, typically raising only a single chick even if both eggs hatch. So reproduction can be a slow process. The cranes normally don’t reach sexual maturity until they are 3-5 years old and the captive reared cranes, when introduced into Louisiana, have been less than 1 year-old. Louisiana cranes have had some success at young ages with several of this year’s successful parents being 5 years old. Additionally this year, for the second year in a row, and for the third time since chicks first hatched in 2016, a pair was successful in fledging twins.
Anyone encountering a whooping crane is advised to observe the bird from a distance and to report the sighting to LDWF at: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/report-a-whooping-crane-sighting-or-v... . Whooping cranes are large-bodied, white birds with a red head and black facial markings. Birds measure a height of five feet and have a wingspan of seven to eight feet that makes them very distinctive. In flight, whooping cranes display black wing tips and a fully extended neck, and legs, which extend well beyond the tail.
For more information on the whooping crane project, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/subhome/whooping-crane and https://www.facebook.com/lawhoopingcranes/. To see how you can support the project, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/support-whooping-crane-conservation or http://www.lawff.org/.

Mike Hardy is not a college football coach.
However, like a college football coach, Hardy has spent a good bit of time on the recruiting trail.
Since his return as Abbeville Chief of Police on July 1, Hardy has actively sought to bring new people into the department. That included a stop by the Rotary Club of Abbeville’s weekly meeting last Wednesday.
“This is happening right now,” Hardy said, “I am actively recruiting, everywhere I go. If I speak at a meeting, I’m going to ask if you know anyone between the ages of 18 and 78.
“We’re promoting Abbeville Police everywhere we go.”
Hardy took over a department that, like many in other municipalities, had a shortage of officers. Again, like a football coach, Hardy crafted a plan to best utilize the talent he had available.
“We were short when I took over,” Hardy said, “mostly with patrol officers. I took everybody, lieutenants, sergeants, everybody who has been to the academy, and put them on a (patrol) shift. They are still on that shift.”
That allowed Hardy to increase the size of the shifts.
“When I took over we had two and three-man shifts,” Hardy explained. “Now, we have five-man shifts, each with a supervisor.”
Hardy said that increased presence has led to some positive results.
“We don’t have gunshots every night of the week anymore,” Hardy said. “We don’t have shootings weekly. We have had one homicide since I have been in office. We’ve already made an arrest. It’s not a good thing, but the proper work was done.”
A positive presence is something Hardy, who previously served as Abbeville chief from 1990 to 2002, wants from his officers.
“I want the officers to ride in the neighborhoods with their windows down,” Hardy said, “where people can see them. I encourage our officers to stop and visit with people. You want them to build trust.”
While Hardy is looking to add manpower to the department, he would love to add “man’s best friend.” He said at the top of his “wish list” is a K-9 officer.
“I’m a big believer in K-9 units,” Hardy said. “I say a K-9 unit can do the work of four men. A well-trained dog can search a building in the 10th of the time and provides great security.”
Those units do come at a price.
“I have a quote from a K-9 trainer,” Hardy said. “Two K-9 units, trained, all you have to do is provide the officer...$21,000. When I first started in ‘90, that cost was $6,000.”
One thing that hasn’t changed is how the department works cold cases. That is by gathering information. Hardy said there are open homicide cases where every bit of new information helps.
“We are working them and getting information,” Hardy said. “We do have people who stop in and give more information. I have stacks of papers on my desk.
“It helps a lot.”
Everywhere Hardy goes, he’s looking for help for the department.
“Recruiting is tough,” Hardy said. “The Abbeville Police Department is looking for officers.
“I’m looking to hire anyone who is willing to better their community and serve their community.”

As global oil prices somewhat ease as Europe’s economy overheats into recession , falling prices will eventually bring along another unfortunate aspect of the business cycle: the impact on labor markets. Inflation and unemployment are said to have an inverse relationship. When prices are generally rising, unemployment is usually falling, and when they start to fall, as in deflation, unemployment usually rises, the worst example being the 1930s and the Great Depression.
Right on schedule, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up 0.2 percent to 3.7 percent in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , as oil eased off of more than $120 a barrel in March down to about $87 now. OPEC+ is scaling back production in preparation for lower demand that usually occurs in recessions. That is yet another recession signal.
The question of course, and seems impossible to predict, is just how bad the current recession will be. In Europe, unemployment is still generally dropping from its Covid highs. For example, in Italy, unemployment peaked in the third quarter of 2020 at 11.1 percent. Now, it’s down to 7.9 percent . As far as the business cycle goes, this indicates Europe is just hitting peak employment, even as financial news outlets are reporting recession amid Gross Domestic Product stagnation .
That means the misery to labor markets remains ahead of the world, mostly, likely dragging into 2023 and beyond before eventually, a bottom will be felt in the recession.
As for the whys of the recession in Europe, look no further than the natural gas crunch that has led to skyrocketing electricity and home heating prices. When the wider war in Ukraine began in February, Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands were already up to $25.72 per 1,000 cubic feet . Now, it’s up to $83.62, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) .
Even in the U.S., which has abundant natural gas supplies, Henry Hub natural gas prices rose from $4.40 in February to more than $8 today, almost doubling.
It all hurts so much more because the push for this century has been to move away from coal electricity production and onto natural gas as a less-carbon intensive alternative. In 2007 , coal-generated electricity made up 49 percent of the total U.S. grid, while natural gas was just 21 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration. In 2021 , natural gas now makes up 38.3 percent of the grid, and coal is down to 21 percent.
In fact, the U.S. is not producing a single kilowatt hour (kWh) more than it was 15 years ago despite rising demand and the U.S. population growing by 30 million to more than 331 million from 2007 to 2021. Instead, overall electricity generation in the U.S. has dropped from 4.005 trillion kWh in 2007 to 3.96 trillion kWh in 2021.
In Europe, the situation is far more dire. In 2020, the European Union imported 9.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas , according to Eurostat . And about 41 percent Europe’s imports come from Russia , or about 3.73 trillion cubic feet a year, 24 percent from Norway at 2.2 trillion cubic feet and 11 percent from Algeria at 1 trillion.
The Nord Stream 2 was built from 2018 and finished construction in Sept. 2021 at a cost of $11 billion, and would have doubled the old pipeline’s distribution of 1.9 trillion cubic feet a year to 3.9 trillion cubic feet a year. Instead, because of the war, Russia has ended output through Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 has been cancelled. Before the war, Germany purchased about 55 percent of its natural gas from Russia .
Now, winter in Europe is rapidly approaching when homes particularly in northern Europe will need gas the most to keep their homes warm and one hopes the weather itself will be a mercifully temperate. As recession looms, the only thing overheating right now are prices. Unemployment will surely follow. Stay tuned.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

Dozens of volunteers joined forces last September to clean up Abbeville.
They are ready to do it again, and would love for you to join them.
Abbeville’s Cleanup Day Part 2 is set for Saturday, Sept. 24, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers will meet at the Christian Service Center, located at 701 Chevis St. in Abbeville.
Nikia Leblanc, owner of Math Depot, which is one of the sponsors, and vice president of the Vermilion Reach Group, is ready to go.
“I am proud to announce that we are hosting our second Community Clean Up Day,” Leblanc said. “Last year was an immense success, and with that said, everyone involved has high hopes for an even more successful event this year.”
Community sponsors and partners in the event include Soulful Eats, City of Abbeville, the Vermilion Reach Group, The Levy Cancer Foundation, the Christian Service Center, and Keep Abbeville Beautiful.
“Once we meet,” Leblanc said, “we will have a brief welcome, and then separate into teams and begin our cleaning routes.
“At noon, we will meet at The Christian Service Center for lunch which will be provided by Soulful Eats.”
Leblanc added, “The team that displays the most team-spirit will receive an award!”
Items needed include:
-Volunteers
-Wagons for trash pick-up
-Trash Bags
-Trash Pickers
-5 gallon Buckets
-Disposable Gloves
-Hand Sanitizer
-Cases of Water
Vermilion Reach Group Secretary/Treasure Hailee Wiggins said seeing efforts like this is inspiring.
“The Vermilion Reach Group is honored to be a part of The Math Depots Clean Up Day again this year,” Wiggins said. “Watching our community come together is truly a dream come true.”