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The Trumpeter Swan Society continues to work on swan restorations including the Oregon Restoration Project, a  partnership between TTSS, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Photograph by Carl Woodward

Restoration and Management

Our swan program areas include those portions of the United States and Canada that provide habitat for nesting, migrating and wintering Trumpeter Swans, including Alaska, the Yukon, the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada, the Midwest and Ontario.

The Oregon Restoration Project, a parternship between TTSS, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service is restoring Oregon's natural heritage. You can choose to support the Oregon Restoration Project in a "Pick a Project"

Summer Lake Wildlife Area in south central Oregon is a release site in our Oregon Restoration Project. Trumpeter Swans released in the project receive green neck collars. Photograph by Gary Ivey

Oregon Restoration Project

Through our donors' support, we are bringing back Oregon's natural heritage. Trumpeter Swans disappeared from Oregon by the late 1800s.

In 2009, driven by a reaffirmed desire to restore and maintain Trumpeter Swans in Oregon, we began releasing birds at Summer Lake Wildlife Area. Our goal is to restore a healthy, viable, and sustainable breeding population of Trumpeter Swans to eastern Oregon.

The Oregon Restoration Project is our partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The goal of the Project is to reach the Pacific Flyway objectives for the state (at least 15 breeding pair and 75 adults).

Young swans from the partners, including zoos, are released into the wild at Summer Lake Wildlife Area.  We had reports of earlier-released swans from Summer Lake being reported in western Oregon, Montana and British Columbia.  The project is also tracking wintering swans using GPS/GSM collars to track their migrations and nesting sites. These swans spend the summer in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta, northern British Columbia and various western states.

As a donor, you make sure this valuable partnership project will restore swans to Oregon.

Habitat Security

Flock isolation is a serious habitat concern in the U.S. Rocky Mountain Population

Trumpeter Swans at Camas National Wildlife Refuge, Idaho. Photograph by Margaret Smith

We work with many partners on habitat security.  For example, decreasing winter habitat in the Pacific northwest is becoming a critical issue especially as dairy farm numbers decline.  Dairy farms provide waterfowl-friendly winter habitat as birds, such as swans, feed on waste grain, potatoes, etc.  The decreasing availability of winter habitat is a serious threat for the Pacific Coast Population of Trumpeter Swans. We are working with partners on this important and complex issue.

We are also working to reduce flock isolation in the United States Rocky Mountain Population, which we believe is one of the reasons for the low rate of growth of this population of less than 800 white swans despite decades of restoration and management efforts.

Participation at Flyway and related meetings

Your support makes it possible for us to attend North American Flyway meetings and participate in the Flyway discussions for each Population (Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain, and Interior).

We are on the Swan Committee of each Flyway where decisions about Trumpeter Swan management and restorations are made.  We are your voice to assure the vitality and welfare of wild Trumpeter Swans in each Flyway and for each Population. We bring our decades of biological swan expertise to offer input and recommendations on swan issues.

We are on the Greater Yellowstone Working Group which works within the Pacific Flyway on issues particular to the United States Rocky Mountain Population, including distribution of cygnets for restoration projects (e.g., Oregon Restoration Project).

Research Projects

For 50 years, we have shared research and findings at our Swan Conferences that have been integral to agency restoration programs and management decisions. We also help to fund swan research that informs swan managers' knowledge and decisions.

Our current research partnership projects will give us and swan managers new knowledge about the breeding success of the High Plains Flock and a three year look at the use of the landscape by Iowa swans.

Collaboration with Partners

We work with many partners on Trumpeter Swan related restoration and management issues including National Wildlife Refuges, national parks, state and federal agencies, nonprofits including land trusts, community groups, zoos, universities, and individuals. Our North American Swan Fund is used in part to assist habitat and research partner projects.

 


It is you, our donors, who make it possible for The Trumpeter Swan Society to assure the vitality and welfare of wild Trumpeter Swans. 

Would you like to help our Restoration and Management programs? It's easy!

Pick a Project. (Oregon Restoration Project; Area of Greatest Need; North American Swan Fund). 

Become a member. 

Updates about progress and partners in our restoration and management programs are shared through our member newsletter, Trumpetings.

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