News United States Air Force
 Air Force partnership helps rare woodpecker thrivePublished Sept. 30, 2020
                        
                        By Jennifer Schneider
                        
                        
                        Air Force Civil Engineer Center Environmental Directorate
                **JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) --**
                The red cockaded woodpecker is making a comeback, thanks to partnership efforts between the Air Force and multiple public and private organizations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service highlighted Department of Defense conservation efforts Sept. 25 during a ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia, marking the proposed downlisting of the red cockaded woodpecker from “endangered” to “threatened.”
”We are celebrating not just incredible conservation success and legacy, but also the spectacular way the mission was achieved – through commitment, passion and creativity of diverse partners,” said Aurelia Skipwith, USFWS director.
The woodpecker was listed as endangered in 1970. Since 1994, the Air Force has increased populations by 178% and its installations now house 585 active potential breeding groups.
Proactive forest management and close partnerships with the USFWS and state agencies and universities continue to play a vital role in population recovery, said Kevin Porteck, the **Air Force Civil Engineer Center's** Air Force natural resources subject matter expert, which supports the planning, programming, budgeting and execution of installation natural resources requirements.
“Our ranges are home to a diversity of wildlife, and with increasing urban development around them, these installations can become the last refuge for some species like the red cockaded woodpecker,” Porteck said.
Since 2012, the Air Force has restored more than 23,000 acres of longleaf pine forest, and now boasts more than 373,000 acres of actively managed longleaf pine, with plans to plant an additional 3,000 acres this winter at **Tyndall Air Force Base**, Florida. In addition, AFCEC’s Air Force Wildland Fire Branch has been an essential contributor for ecosystem management, averaging more than 140,000 acres of prescribed burns annually.**Eglin AFB**, Florida, home to the Air Force’s largest population of red cockaded woodpeckers, effectively increased its potential breeding groups from 184 to 507 since 1994, surpassing a 2009 recovery goal of 350 groups.
Natural resources managers at Eglin AFB implement periodic controlled burns and conduct timber sales to maintain and enhance the landscape of mature longleaf pines and ensure the type of open understory preferred by the woodpeckers. The installation also drilled more than 1,500 artificial nest cavities as potential nest sites for the birds.
Recovery efforts there have been so successful that the installation donated 212 juvenile woodpeckers to enhance other populations in the region.
“As the installation commander of Eglin Air Force Base’s 464,000-acre reservation, I can’t tell you how proud I am of this phenomenal accomplishment, and how important it is to ensuring our critical mission of national defense continues,” said **Brig. Gen. Scott Cain**, 96th Test Wing commander at Eglin AFB. “For the past 30 years, the Eglin Natural Resources Office, known as Jackson Guard, has been effectively using fire and numerous forestry techniques, such as drilling artificial cavities and translocation of juveniles, to ensure mission success. My thanks go out to our partners in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, without whom we could not have achieved this goal.”
Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida, also achieved a population increase since 1994, going from 23 active potential breeding groups to 45, said Brent Bonner, Avon Park environmental chief.
Likewise, Poinsett Electronic Combat Range at **Shaw AFB**, South Carolina, increased their populations from three potential breeding groups to 33 since 1994.
Successful recovery of the woodpeckers not only benefits the species, but also provides the Air Force greater flexibility for mission sustainment and expansion.
"If the population of a particular species on a military installation becomes imperiled and warrants protection by law, the result can be restrictions on the use of an Air Force range for training and testing activities,” Porteck said. “By sustaining ecosystems and biodiversity, the Air Force provides a landscape that can sustain military testing and training activities now and in the future while simultaneously conserving our natural heritage.”USAF 



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