Text by Paula Dittrick, TMNCPC blogmaster. Photos from US Fish and Wildlife Service and Robbin Mallett, TMNCPC communications director.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service might downlist the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) from endangered to threatened following a 60-day public comment period.
RCW populations are now stable with continued recovery anticipated, USFWS officials said in a Sept. 25 news release.
Texas A&M Forest Service has monitored RCW populations and managed habitat on two Texas state forests– the W.G. Jones State Forest near Conroe and the I.D. Fairchild State Forest–since 1969, said Carter Smith, Executive Director, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
“Texas A&M Forest Service is committed to continue managing this species,” by following federal guidelines and the latest scientific methods, Smith said.
Once abundant from New Jersey to Florida, west to Texas and north to Missouri, the RCW’s range dwindled with habitat loss of living mature pines. Numbers dipped to a low of 1,4790 estimated clusters in the late 1970s but rebounded to about 7,800.
Clusters are groups of cavity trees used by RCWs for nesting and roosting. A breeding pair of red-cockaded woodpeckers is joined by helpers, usually the males from previous broods that assist with incubation and feeding of the next generation.
The USFWS also proposes a special RCW rule under ESA section 4(d) that would prohibit incidental take associated with additional loss or degradation of habitat. This includes protection for cavity trees, enforcement against harassing RCWs during breeding, and use of insecticides near clusters.
The proposed rule to change the RCW status to threatened is Docket No. FWS–R4– ES–2019–0018.