The team, which held its first meeting in June, includes representatives from state fish and wildlife agencies, The Nature Conservancy, and other conservation organizations and universities.

"The rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker would not have been possible if not for the collaborative efforts between state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, and conservation-minded private landowners, hunters and fishers," said Scott Simon, director of The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas. "I am very pleased to see that a well-qualified team representing these groups has now been assembled to ensure the continued survival of the ivory-bill."

Sam Hamilton, Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said, "This recovery team brings together some of the best minds in ecology, conservation biology, forestry, and ornithology, from a wide spectrum of organizations who can contribute knowledge and resources toward this magnificent bird's comeback. We likely won't get a second chance to do this critical job, and we need to move effectively and quickly."

Nancy DeLamar, director of external affairs for The Nature Conservancy's Southern region, will serve on the recovery team's executive committee, where she'll work closely with each program in the division, with federal and state agency directors and with the Conservancy's worldwide government relations staff in Arlington, Virginia. Dr. David Mehlman, director of the Conservancy's migratory birds program, will serve as a member the biology team. And Douglas Zollner, director of conservation science for The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas, will serve on the habitat management and conservation working group.

The team is working to complete a recovery plan by Summer 2007. The recovery effort will cover the bird's historic range and will focus on the Big Woods corridor of Central Arkansas, Eastern Texas' Big Thicket, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, southern Georgia, and the Carolinas.

The ivory-billed woodpecker once nested in both bottomland swamps and adjacent pine forests throughout the Southeastern United States and Cuba. Although activities are aimed at recovering the United States' population, the recovery team plans to coordinate with Cuba and its conservation efforts.

In this country, the bird ranged from the coastal plain of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, large portions of Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, Louisiana, eastern Texas, west Tennessee, and small areas of Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Missouri. The range became smaller by the late 1800s, and the woodpecker was no longer found in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois or Kentucky. Ivory-bill numbers continued to decline, and by the mid 1940s, most experts believed the bird to be extinct. Until now, there had been no confirmed sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker in more than 60 years.

"Arkansans should be proud of their conservation ethic and the work they've done to restore the Cache and White River basins, and the benefits to the woodpecker as well as waterfowl, wild turkey, deer and many other species of wildlife," Hamilton said.

On April 28, the Interior and Agriculture Departments announced that $10.2 million would be redirected to conservation efforts benefiting this woodpecker's recovery. This funding is in addition to the $10 million already committed to research and habitat protection efforts by private sector groups and citizens.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is required to establish a recovery team to prepare a comprehensive recovery plan for the species and to advise agencies, stakeholders, and the public on conservation actions proposed for the species.

The recovery team, led by an executive committee chaired by Sam Hamilton, and Jon Andrew, chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the Southeast Region, will oversee the efforts of the team's three working groups.

The first two working groups are Biology, and Habitat Management and Conservation. The biology working group will focus on population viability, survey techniques and research, including natural history investigations. The habitat management and conservation group will identify, inventory and describe current and potential habitat and provide recommendations and advice on forest management. Dr. Ken Rosenberg from Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology will lead the biology working group. Kenny Ribbeck of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Dr.Tom Foti with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission will lead the habitat management and conservation working group.

The third is the Corridor of Hope conservation working group, which is made up of public and private partners who will support the recovery planning effort and focus on land conservation in the Mississippi Delta of Arkansas. This team will be led by David Goad, deputy director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and Scott Simon, director of The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas.

Members of the IBW Recovery Team's Executive Committee not previously mentioned follow:

Sam D. Hamilton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Regional Director in Atlanta, Georgia, serves as Chair. A native of Mississippi, Hamilton oversees Fish and Wildlife Service activities in 10 southeastern states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The region is home to more than 125 National Wildlife Refuges, 14 national fish hatcheries, 16 ecological services offices, and 38 law enforcement offices.

Scott Henderson, director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, has been director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission since 2003 and served as assistant director of the agency from 1987-2003.

Dr. John Fitzpatrick, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology, is the co-leader of the ivory-bill search effort in Arkansas. He has been the director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology since 1995. Previously, he was executive director of Florida's Archbold Biological Station and curator of birds at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

Dr. James Tate, Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, began his conservation career more than 30 years ago as an associate professor at Cornell University and assistant director of the respected Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Dr. Tate has worked extensively on endangered species issues. For two years, he served as advisory scientist for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory on projects involving sage grouse and other environmental issues. Dr. Tate received his doctorate in zoology from the University of Nebraska with a thesis on the foraging behavior of woodpeckers.

John Bridgeland, president and CEO of Civic Enterprises, served as a teaching fellow in the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he lectured on Presidential Decision Making. Recently, Bridgeland served as Assistant to the President of the United States and the first Director of the USA Freedom Corps. In that role, he coordinated more than $1 billion in domestic and international service initiatives and worked with non-profits, corporations and schools.

Brig. General Robert Crear, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Vicksburg District since 1998. The Vicksburg District encompasses 68,000 square miles in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, covering seven major river basins and 270 miles of the Mississippi river and is one of the largest civil works districts in the Corps.

Kirk Duppes, a member of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's national board, will serve on this executive committee.

Dr. Peter Roussopoulos, director of the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, leads Forest Service research throughout 13 southeastern states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. He has led the station since its establishment 10 years ago. Dr. Roussopoulos is a member of the Society of American Foresters.

Larry Wiseman, president and chief executive officer of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), created and co-founded the Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources in 1995. The American Forest Foundation serves as a working platform for partnerships among industry, the environmental and education communities. The Foundation's three core programs include the American Tree Farm System�, Forests for Watersheds and Wildlife, and Project Learning Tree�.

For More Information About the Ivory-billed Woodpecker:

a.. Found: The Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Learn about the timeline of the search for the ivory-bill, The Nature Conservancy's conservation efforts in the Big Woods of Arkansas, meet the search team, and more!

b.. Ivory-billed Woodpecker audio chat
Phillip Hoose, author of The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, discusses the recent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

c.. Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas
The Nature Conservancy's work in Arkansas helps protect and restore ecologically rich wetlands, threatened native prairies, caves, forests and waterways.

d.. Places We Protect: The Big Woods of Arkansas
This 550,000-acre corridor of floodplain forest follows the bayous and rivers that flow into the Mississippi River and includes the most extensive example of natural shoreline along the lower Mississippi. For 41 miles, the banks on both sides of the river are lined with bottomland hardwoods, the habitat of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

e.. How You Can Help: Donate Online
Support our efforts to conserve this critical habitat for the ivory-bill and other species.

f.. Ivory-billed Woodpecker News
See ivory-billed woodpecker photos, maps of the habitat of the ivory-bill, and other news and information about the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

g.. Our Partner: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
The Mission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

(Images provided by the Nature Conservancy.)

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