There is, however, some reason to be cautiously optimistic that this species can be saved. Hundreds of thousands of acres of southern pine forests potentially could be restored to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker. Doing so might require prescribed burning and hardwood removal to open up the understory, installation of artificial cavities to create nesting sites, and even the translocation of young woodpeckers to sites where they once occurred but died out. Many of these activities are being carried out in the Sandhills of North Carolina under the auspicies of the Fish and Wildlife Service's safe harbor program. More than 20 landowners have expressed a willingness to restore woodpecker habitat if they can do so without incurring additional restrictions on the use of their land.
Similar programs are in various stages of development in other parts of the southeast.
Restoration of woodpecker populations on private land is critical to meeting the goals set forth in the Fish and Wildlife Service's Red-cockaded Woodpecker Recovery Plan . One of the biggest challenges is providing some financial reward to landowners who undertake habitat restoration. Activities such as hardwood removal, prescribed burning, and the installation of artificial nesting cavities cost money, and landowners may be unwilling to undertake them without some form of compensation. Buying and selling of safe harbor credits and providing landowners with a tax deduction for management activities are two possibilities. Florida's state animal is one of North America's rarest mammals.