The conservation crisis: the Red-cockaded Woodpecker: on the road to oblivion?

Abstract

Our purpose is to consider the case of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis), another continental species that appears to be on a trajectory toward extinction. Although this species has been on the endangered species list and thus legally protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1973, its situation has steadily worsened. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is the bio-political counterpart in the southeastern United States of the now famous Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) of the Pacific Northwest. Although the Spotted Owl has received considerable attention from conservationists, the species as a whole is currently in far less danger of extinction than is the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. For somewhat different historical reasons, both the owl and the woodpecker occur primarily on public lands and, in particular, U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands. The fate of these species depends on how we as a society manage our public lands (Ligon et al. 1986).

Citation

Ligon, J. David; Baker, Wilson W.; Conner, Richard N.; Jackson, Jerome A.; James, Frances C.; Rudolph, D. Craig; Stacey, Peter B.; Walters, Jeffrey R. 1991. The conservation crisis: the Red-cockaded Woodpecker: on the road to oblivion? Auk 108(1): 200-201.