Red-cockaded woodpeckers and silvicultural practice: is uneven-aged silviculture preferable to even-aged?

The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) has become a high-profile management issue in the southeastern United States. Suitable habitat consists of mature to old pine, or mixed pine-hardwood forest, with minimal hardwood midstory vegetation. Loss of habitat, detrimental silvicultural practices, and changes in the fire regime have resulted in small fragmented populations, most of which have been declining precipitously in recent decades (Costa and Escano 1989, Conner and Rudolph 1989). The current population of 10-12 thousand birds occurs across much of the original range from Virginia and Florida west to Oklahoma and Texas (James 1995). However, populations are restricted to isolated tracts of suitable habitat, primarily on public lands. Consequently, the debate over the future of this once abundant species, characteristic of fire climax pine forests, has focused primarily on management strategies for the species by the U. S. Forest Service (USFS), the agency responsible for the majority of the public forest lands in the region. The biological attributes of red-cockaded woodpeckers (Walters et al. 1988), their endangered status, their potential for economic impact, and their use as a surrogate for arguments in favor of old growth forests, have combined to make them one of the most intensively researched avian species. The results of this effort have been substantial. Most individuals familiar with the species agree that we now have the techniques and expertise to halt and reverse the declines of recent decades (Escano 1995, Hess and Costa 1995). Recent efforts on National Forests in Texas and elsewhere, have demonstrated that even small populations can be recovered (Conner et al. 1995, Gaines et al 1995, Richardson and Stockie 1995). Management successes have resulted from the construction of artificial nest and roost cavities, removal of encroaching hardwood midstory vegetation, and translocation of birds. It is important to realize that these successes depend on intensive management of the species and do not directly address the total ecosystem. Proper management of the total ecosystem would allow red-cockaded woodpeckers to maintain viable populations without intensive management on a large scale. Recovery and management of the red-cockaded woodpecker presents major challenges for managers. In order to be economically feasible management must be based on ecosystem management. It is also clear that successful management is compatible with some level of timber harvest. In recent years the USFS, timber producers, environmental groups, local governments, and the federal courts have been intimately involved in a debate on silvicultural methods suitable for woodpecker management. The strategies for management of the ecosystem precipitate the major differences between the parties involved. To date, the issue has not been resolved, but substantial progress has been achieved. The following synopsis applies to USFS lands only, although as the manager of most of the existing populations, the future of the species rests primarily with this agency. In Texas, timber harvests on National Forests have been scaled back since the 1988 court case in which the USFS was found in violation of Sections 7 and 9 of the Endangered Species Act. Throughout the remaining range of the species the USFS has modified silvicultural practices with Interim Guidelines to avoid detrimental impacts until a strategy for management of the ecosystem, which is con-