Think globally, act locally.
From 1969 through the early 70s I tracked the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Texas. I believe that the species was in Texas at that time. I wrote a paper (The Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Texas) about the status of the species in Texas as a research report for a technical writing class as an undergraduate at A&M in 1970. Recent sightings in the Pearl River basin in southern Louisiana and now a confirmed and 6:00 PM news broadcast confirmation of the species in Arkansas has me thinking of a great opportunity for us Texans to preserve our last great hope for the species in Texas, the bottomland forest between the Neches and Angelina Rivers north of Lake Steinhagen. This area is 1000 plus contiguous acres of mostly virgin bottomland hardwood and is mostly owned by the feds. The Feds have pledged 20 million and have it matched by private funds totally 20 million for the recovery effort of the Ivory-bill. That's 40 million pledged before the announcement! I think with all this money flying around, transferring some existing federal holdings to create a new wildlife refuge or an addition to the Big Thicket National Park would be a lobe pitch. Further, private funds might be able to expand and buffer this area.
Even if the Ivory-bill is not still there, the area is habitat for Swallow-tailed Kite, Bald Eagle, Black Bear, Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat , Southeastern Myotis Bat, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Timber/Canebrake Rattlesnake all listed as threatened or species of concern as defined by TPWD. If the species eventually is recovered, this would be the best place in the state to reintroduce them. Of all the places I visited in the 60s and 70s where Ivory-billed Woodpeckers had been reported, including the Sternberg Tract (now part of the Kirby Nature Trail in the BTNP) where John Dennis "verified" the bird with sound recordings (never conclusively distinguished from Blue Jay imitations (1)) and "workings" (which I photographed and put in my report (2)), the Steinhagen Lake tract was and is the only place which could actually support a pair or two of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. This tract still exist as it was in 1970 and if the Arkansas (Louisiana Singer Tract birds) managed to survive for 60 years then just maybe too have the birds reported in 1970 at Lake Steinhagen.
(1) Why would Blue Jays imitate Ivory-billed Woodpeckers unless they had heard them in their lifetime or more recently? Has anyone out there ever heard a Blue Jay imitate an Ivory-bill?
(2) Unfortunately the focus on the photos of the Ivory-bill workings was poor and details are difficult to see, however in my now 40 plus years of experience in the field I have never again seen anything like these woodpecker workings. They are generally accepted to be probable Ivory-billed workings.
