In an effort to increase the swan population and improve their chances of survival, some trumpeters were moved to other areas with good swan habitat, including Hennepin Parks in Minnesota. Forty birds from the Red Rocks Lakes NWR formed the core of the Midwest s restoration effort in the late 1960s. We now know that in the 1930s when the Red Rock Lakes NWR was established, there was also a flock of trumpeter swans that survived in remote parts of Alaska and western Canada. Those flocks have grown a lot and now make up the most secure population of trumpeters in North America. These birds are found in the western United States.
Efforts continue to restore trumpeters to the Midwest where populations of swans are still low.
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are establishing flocks of trumpeters that will help create a migratory and breeding population of swans in the upper Midwest. The young birds are kept for 2 years because these are the hardest years to survive in the wild. The sites where cygnets and yearlings are held captive are called captive-rearing or overwintering sites. Wisconsin has three of these sites where trumpeter cygnets are maintained. The swans are wing-clipped each summer to keep them from flying away until it s time for their release.