Holy hammerhead, Batman! The ivory-billed woodpecker, long
thought to be extinct, has been discovered in the Cache River National
Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. Read the complete story in Science Express,
which just released this news online today. There's a report by
the biologists who verified the bird's existence, along with video footage of the critter doing its thing down in the river bottoms!
It's nice to know that in an age when extinctions are increasing in
number on a daily basis, we can cross one lost species off the list.
Before you jump for joy, however, there is also this report from the
National Wildlife Refuge Association, which says it ain't all rosy for
the ivory-billed:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2005
CONTACT:
Evan Hirsche
(202) 333-9075
ehirsche@refugenet.org
Re-Discovered Ivory Billed Woodpecker Still Faces Challenge To Survival
April 28, 2005 (Washington, D.C.) - The National Wildlife Refuge
Association (NWRA) today hailed the announcement in today's Science
Express that a thought-to-be extinct ivory-billed woodpecker has been
discovered at Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, but
expressed concern about its chances for survival.
"Although the re-discovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker is great
news, continued under-funding of our national wildlife refuges
threatens to thrust this species into extinction for real this time,"
said Evan Hirsche, president of the NWRA.
The ivory-billed woodpecker, the largest in the United States, was
squeezed out of its southeastern old-bottomland habitat due to the
fragmentation and harvesting of contiguous forests. Presumed extinct by
many, there have been unconfirmed sightings in a number of southeastern
states, but no confirmation of live birds for many
decades.
"It's not surprising that the ivory-billed woodpecker has gone
undiscovered for so long. With massive staffing shortages and a $2
billion funding backlog, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service simply
can't know everything happening within their refuges," said Hirsche.
The 56,000 acre Cache River National Wildlife Refuge is one of 545
refuges located in all states and territories that total 100 million
acres, nearly 20 million more than the National Park System. Yet
despite the size and importance of the Refuge System to the
conservation and recovery of species, refuges struggle to meet even the
most basic needs. Two hundred refuges have no staff, and roughly half
are missing a staff biologist.
"We are lucky that the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge was set
aside in the mid-1980s when it was. The extensive forests there have
obviously served as a true refuge for this bird," said Hirsche.
The NWRA, along with 20 other national conservation and recreation
organizations through the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement
have called on Congress and the Administration to nearly double the
Refuge System budget to $700 million annually, yet the FY06
Administration request falls woefully short of what's needed to keep
pace with needs.
"Unless we begin to see a concerted long-term effort to increase Refuge
System funding, we'll have more surprises, but rarely positive like the
recent discovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker," said Hirsche. "While
we are encouraged that there are real chances that ivory-billed
woodpeckers might continue to live, breed, and spread at Cache River
NWR and beyond, the future health of the refuge system is also in
question."
###
The mission of the NWRA is to protect, enhance and expand the National
Wildlife Refuge System, lands and waters set aside by the American
people to protect our diverse wildlife heritage.
National Wildlife Refuge Association
1010 Wisconsin Avenue NW Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20007
202-333-9075 office
202-333-9077 fax
12:38:49 PM 
|
|
