06/18/2010
Partners to Invest $692,625 in Endangered Species Habitat
GEORGIA — Red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCW) will benefit from more than 12,000 acres of habitat improvements valued at $692,625 in middle Georgia.
"Red-cockaded woodpeckers are an endangered species native to mature pine forests," said Robert Abernethy, National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) assistant vice president of agency programs. "The only way to increase their population is to improve habitat so the birds can expand their range into unoccupied areas."
To enable RCWs to expand their populations into the Oconee National Forest and Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, Southern Company, USDA Forest Service (USFS), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the NWTF partnered in the Corridor of Flight project.
The Corridor of Flight project will benefit RCWs as well as wild turkeys, northern bobwhite quail, white-tailed deer, multiple songbirds and many other wildlife species.
Habitat Needs
"Although red-cockaded woodpeckers breed successfully and take excellent care of their young, the fledglings can't survive if they have nowhere to go after leaving their family unit," said Carolyn Johnson, USFWS refuge manager on the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge. "Creating artificial nesting cavities in pine trees through the Corridor of Flight project will allow fledglings to easily set up their home and increase the population."
Red-cockaded woodpeckers need very specific habitat, which has decreased over the years. Due to a lack of habitat, only 12,500 of the birds – a mere 1 percent of the woodpecker's original population – exist from Florida to Virginia and west to southeast Oklahoma and eastern Texas.
RCWs are found only in old-growth pine stands, which are nearly nonexistent except on national forests, national wildlife refuges and military bases. They also are the only woodpecker species to make their homes exclusively in living pine trees. Excavating a home takes between one and three years.
"To see clearly enough to avoid hawks and other predators, red-cockaded woodpeckers need habitat that is free of visual barriers," said Liz Caldwell, a USDA Forest Service biologist on the Oconee National Forest. "We are working to make the whole area as appealing as possible to help the population thrive here."
Habitat Solutions
Using funds provided through a grant from Southern Company and NFWF, plus dollars earned through stewardship contracting, biologists are applying modern forestry and wildlife management techniques to improve RCW habitat.
These modern forestry techniques include helping pine trees grow by applying herbicides, conducting prescribed burns, widening fire lines to allow sunlight to reach small, food-bearing shrubs and trees, installing and maintaining RCW artificial cavity inserts, installing flying squirrel nest boxes, constructing wildlife openings, removing branches, thinning timber stands, constructing and maintaining roads, installing gates and monitoring RCW and quail breeding seasons.
"Everyone who visits the Oconee National Forest and Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge will benefit from the improvements made for red-cockaded woodpeckers," said Greg Boozer, NWTF wildlife biologist. "Hunters, hikers and birdwatchers will all enjoy the increased wildlife viewing opportunities, as many species of wildlife will benefit from the improved, high quality habitat we are developing."
The Corridor of Flight project will continue improving habitat for red-cockaded woodpeckers and other wildlife through September of 2014.
The NWTF is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.
Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $306 million to conserve 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.
