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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 249 Introduced in House (IH)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 249

  Celebrating the recent discovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in 
                           Eastern Arkansas.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2005

    Mr. Berry (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Snyder, and Mr. Ross) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                              on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Celebrating the recent discovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in 
                           Eastern Arkansas.

Whereas the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker has recently been discovered and verified in 
        the Big Woods region of Arkansas;
Whereas the last confirmed sighting of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was in 1988 
        in the Sierra de Moa Mountains of Eastern Cuba;
Whereas the last known population of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in the United 
        States disappeared in 1948;
Whereas previous to the discovery in Arkansas, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was 
        thought to be extinct; and
Whereas the discovery of this species that was once feared to be extinct 
        highlights the current success of private landowners in managing 
        resources in a responsible manner: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) celebrates the recent discovery of the Ivory-Billed 
        Woodpecker in Eastern Arkansas;
            (2) congratulates Gene Sparling of Hot Springs, Arkansas, 
        who on February 11, 2004, spotted an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker 
        while kayaking in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge;
            (3) commends Tim Gallagher, editor of the Cornell Lab of 
        Ornithology's Living Bird Magazine, and Bobby Harrison, 
        associate professor at Oakwood College, in Huntsville, Alabama, 
        for their hard work and determination in verifying the presence 
        of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Arkansas;
            (4) commends David Luneau, associate professor at the 
        University of Arkansas at Little Rock, for his work in video 
        recording the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and the important role 
        this evidence played in verifying the species' presence;
            (5) commends the private and public landowners of Arkansas, 
        who through sound conservation and land management practices 
        had the foresight to protect this critical habitat in a manner 
        that ensured the viability of this vulnerable species;
            (6) encourages the Department of the Interior, the 
        Department of Agriculture, and their various agencies to 
        continue to work with all parties in the State of Arkansas who 
        have so successfully maintained this critical habitat; and
            (7) congratulates the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 
        the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, and the Nature 
        Conservancy for their leadership in taking a balanced approach 
        to ensure the preservation of bottomland hardwood habitat.
                                 <all>
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