The red-cockaded woodpecker is going to spread its wings a bit more, courtesy of a new Tennessee plan to bring the threatened species back to the state.
In collaboration with the Fish and Wildlife Service, two Tennessee natural resource agencies intend to reintroduce the woodpecker to the state it was last seen inhabiting in 1994. The species reintroduction is a big enough deal that it won the endorsement of Republican Gov. Bill Lee, a former construction company owner.
“The return of the red-cockaded woodpecker is not just a biological milestone — it’s a triumph of collaboration for all Tennesseans,” Lee said in a videotaped statement last week issued during an event dubbed the Tennessee Biodiversity Summit.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation joined with FWS in announcing the plan. It involves using state, federal and private funding to restore approximately 1,200 acres of suitable habitat in the Savage Gulf State Natural Area located about 60 miles northwest of Chattanooga.
