Entergy protects endangered whooping cranes while increasing reliability for customers
Entergy is partnering with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and FulcrumAir to deploy bird flight diverters on transmission lines across Louisiana, marking a significant milestone in the company’s commitment to protecting the endangered whooping cranes while improving reliability for our customers.
A remarkable recovery, protection efforts ongoing
Today, there are over 800 whooping cranes in existence, with breeding pairs of birds living year-round in our service territory. However, these unique creatures native to the marshes of southern Louisiana were almost wiped out entirely many decades ago.
“Whooping cranes are an endangered species that came very close to going extinct in the early 1940s,” said Sara Zimorski, wildlife biologist for the LDWF. “There were only 21 whooping cranes left at that time. Now, they have made a remarkable recovery thanks to measures taken to preserve the species.”
One example of these preservation measures is the installation of bird flight diverters on transmission lines that intersect the natural habitat of the whooping crane. Entergy operates more than 1,000 miles of transmission lines and nearly 3,500 miles of distribution lines in Louisiana parishes where the LDWF identified breeding pairs of whooping cranes live year-round, including Jefferson Davis Parish.
“The LDWF reached out to us regarding a breeding pair of whooping cranes in the area,” said Sydney Johnson, avian and biodiversity lead at Entergy. “This family of cranes lives in a crawfish and rice field right by our transmission lines, and we wanted to make sure that we do what we can to protect these endangered birds.”
Improving reliability for our customers through safer technology
Reducing instances of avian strikes with our infrastructure helps improve long-term reliability for our customers by mitigating conductor damage and fault events. To achieve this, Entergy is deploying bird flight diverters — high contrast devices that are suspended on our power lines and visible from all angles and in low-light conditions using the FulcrumAir LineFly.
“FulcrumAir is installing bird flight diverters using the drone-deployed LineFly robotic tool,” said Jason Jones, vice president of sales for FulcrumAir. “To place bird flight diverters on a transmission line, historically you would have a crew installing it by hand using a helicopter. We’re able to take that human safety risk out of play, and we take environmental disturbance out of play as well. We’re also able to install the diverters while the transmission lines are energized.”
“By installing the bird flight diverters, the whooping cranes are able to better see those lines when they are both landing and in-flight in bad conditions giving them the opportunity to avoid those lines,” said Jones.
The importance of leadership through partnerships
Entergy’s mitigation approach aligns with federal requirements under the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Working with the LDWF demonstrates how regulatory agencies and utilities can achieve common goals: protecting the species while reliably serving customers.
“Partnering with the LDWF really highlights the opportunity to work together with regulatory agencies to achieve a common goal of protecting the species and the animals in our service territory, while also reliably providing power to our customers and our communities,” said Austin Langley, environmental operations manager at Entergy.
These partnerships continue to exhibit why Entergy is a leader in our industry.
“Entergy has really taken a lead position in wildlife mitigation, both in distribution and transmission. They are very proactive in protecting the wildlife. The things we’re doing here today are the next steps for Entergy to continue to help protect the whooping cranes and other bird populations here in Louisiana,” said Jones.
With this pilot complete, Entergy plans to deploy similar mitigation across other parts of our service territory.
