FORT^POLK, La. -- Kisatchie National Forest is a place of natural beauty filled with animals that walk, slither, crawl and fly through the woods in an indomitable attempt to survive the rigors of the wild. But for some creatures, the stakes are higher as they struggle against the dangers of becoming extinct. The red cockaded woodpecker is one of those animals. It has been on the list of endangered species since 1970.
But its numbers are on the rise thanks to the efforts of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Kisatchie National Forest and Fort Polk.
As RCW chicks are born, the cycle of data collection and guardianship begins anew for each bird. That's why Johnny Fryar, wildlife biologist for the Kisatchie National Forest, supervised Ashley Alost, a wildlife technician, May 19 as she tagged three baby red cockaded woodpeckers in the continuing effort to increase their population. Fryar said the goal is for them to increase by about 5 to 10 percent each year.
But why is the woodpecker on the endangered species list to begin with? The woodpecker's habitat is found in the pine forests of the Southeastern United States and the bird's decline can be related to the loss of its natural domain as longleaf pine forests have been cleared to make way for homes, farmland and lumber.
The Calcasieu Ranger district of the forest is dedicated to longleaf pine restoration, which in turn helps the red cockaded woodpecker, said Fryar. "We have been steadily working to raise their numbers. There are approximately 180 active clusters on this land today." One bird lives in each tree, said Fryar, and you might see four or five active trees together, called a cluster. "This type of family group is unique in the world of birds, and that's part of why they got into trouble. They'll live in this cluster of live pine trees for as many as 12-14 years. For a small bird like this, that's amazing," said Fryar. "They nest in the male's tree. A cluster usually consists of a dominant, breeding male, the breeding female and young helper males, which are like 'teenagers' who stay around the next year to help raise the young."
The woodpeckers live in older long leaf pine trees because as the trees get older they develop heart rot and that makes it easy for the woodpeckers to peck. They'll know which tree has heart rot and then they'll start to make a cavity that might take a year or more to create, according to Fryar.
To help things along, the Forest Service has found ways to speed things up. "One thing we've done is cut out square blocks from pine trees and put in bird houses. Over night the woodpeckers have a ready-made home. These nest inserts are about 20-23 feet above the ground. The birds have done well with them because they don't have to expend all their energy making a home," he said.
Alost retrieved the chicks from this type of nest. She climbed a ladder to the birdhouse, took a piece of plastic tubing with some fishing line in the shape of a loop and threaded it down into the cavity of the nest. Fryar said they use this "noose" to gently grab the birds and pull them out. "We have been doing this for years and it's a very safe and effective way to get the chicks out," he said.
At the time Alost tagged them, the chicks were about seven days old and that's the optimal time to band them. "It's the Forest Service's job to band these birds to keep up with them. We'll put several bands on them. One will be a Fish and Wildlife band and the others will be color-coded bands. When we are out in the woods, we'll use binoculars to see the different color patterns on each bird and that tells us which bird it is, what cluster it came from and how old it is," said Fryar.
The partnership between Fort Polk and the Forest Service is making a difference in repopulating this species, said Fryar. "The Vernon Unit of the Kisatchie National Forest has one of the largest clusters of the red cockaded woodpecker because this is a good habitat for them. We have 180 active clusters on the Vernon Unit, our sister unit has 130 clusters and the northern units might have 30 to 40 clusters. We have the seventh largest cluster population in the nation right now. We are the biggest population this side of Florida," said Fryar. "This makes us unique in that we are considered a donor population, which allows us to translocate young juveniles to other places that need birds every year," he said.
One of the biggest reasons for the success of the RCWs population increase is the cooperation between the Forest Service and Fort Polk. Christopher A. Melder, Colorado State University contract wildlife biologist at Fort's Polk's Directorate of Public Works, Environment and Natural Resources Management Division, Conservation Branch, said there is a United States Fish and Wildlife Joint Monitoring Plan between the Forest Service and Fort Polk. "It says Fort Polk and the Forest Service -- Vernon Unit -- will manage this population of woodpeckers in the same manner because if they are managing one way and I'm managing another, you can't correlate the data," said Melder.
Melder said the relationship between the Forest Service and Fort Polk began in 2000. "It's been 12 years of working hand-in-hand, collecting and providing data," he said.
Kenneth Moore, Fort Polk's ecologist, said that the Army supports the efforts to reestablish a healthy population of red cockaded woodpeckers and the longleaf pine ecosystem that they depend on. "Fort Polk has created a good habitat for this bird. I think the RCW recovery is going well because there is a good working relationship between Fort Polk and the Forest Service," said Moore.
There are about 40,000 acres of Forest Service land called intensive use acres. These are areas the Army trains on. The Forest Service manages the woodpeckers on these lands with Fort Polk assistance. "We also help out on some of the limited use lands, but for the most part, the Forest Service takes care of that. The difference between intensive use and limited use lands is access. You can get to a limited use site at any time and schedule out the site visits. But when you have clusters on intensive use acres, there are access issues and it can complicate the process. There's a lot of planning involved and you have to know where your next day's work is to get access," said Melder.
Due to a slightly larger staff and better access to some training areas, Melder said Fort Polk oversees many forest service sites. "We monitor the whole process from birth and nest checks to banding, sex checks and more. Then we provide them (the Forest Service) the data. It's a good partnership," he said.
There is a mandatory cease-fire between 6-8 a.m. on the Fort Polk ranges, according to Melder. He said Zion Hills training area, the small arms training area located on Forest Service land, is one of the most challenging areas to access. "That two hour window is our only opportunity to get in there and work. It's definitely challenging to get everything done in two hours." Taking care of these woodpeckers takes a lot of coordination with the Army. Melder said that can mean hard work, early mornings and late nights, but it's worth it.
There are many RCW clusters that coexist right next to ranges, said Melder.
"The RCW wants to be surrounded by trees to a point, but they also like open areas. For instance, woodpeckers like golf courses -- that's nothing but a big open area. Many military installations have cluster sites in close proximity to ranges because they are open areas. The key is you can't suddenly slap a range right on top of an established site. Then there might be some issues," said Melder.
When it comes to the endangered species, if the Army wants to establish a new range, they talk to ENRMD about what's best for the birds. "The Army provides a lot of communication, assistance and cooperation -- no doubt," said Melder.
Moore said it's beneficial to the Army that Fort Polk help the Forest Service because once the RCW population reaches a certain number and recovery status is reached, many of the training restrictions are reduced. That's why every time baby red cockaded woodpeckers are banded, hope for their future increases.
Fryar said the chicks that were tagged May 19 will be almost grown in the fall and the Forest Service will return to see how many survived.
"Often the young die. Two, three or sometimes only one will survive and move on to make a new cluster. The dominant breeding female normally kicks out female chicks. Hopefully, they'll find a cluster and start their own family. We'll sometimes take two young chicks, put them in an area and they'll start a new cluster. We've been able to successfully do that. The biology of this species is complex. They don't bounce back like some species do, because they require such an exact environment," said Fryar.
No matter what the future holds for these chicks, their journey begins with the completion of the banding process. Alost, the forest technician in charge of putting bands on the woodpeckers, said she owes her love of the outdoors to her dad, Fort Polk's Joint Readiness Training Center garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Semerena. "He's the one that got me outside. That's where I learned that I enjoyed helping wildlife and why I went to college to become a wildlife biologist. I love my job," said Alost. "I feel like I make a difference. I love seeing the chicks grow up and hopefully survive. We are doing a good thing here," said Alost.
Alost said she knows working to save the woodpecker can be a challenge when it comes to the military. "I think we do a good job correlating with the military to make sure we all get along and what they do when they're training doesn't injure any of the trees," said Alost. She said the Forest Service also has a good relationship with Fort Polk's environment biologists. "When we need help banding the baby birds, they'll work with us on our land to get the job done. They love to help us out," she said.
Melder said that the RCW is at about 220 potential breeding pairs. "At 250 we can start to drop some of the training restrictions and at 350 it will be considered a truly recovered bird population," said Melder. He said some years they see good growth and some years it's slow. Melder and Moore agree that the RCW is about 40 years away from making it off the endangered species list.
With the continued teamwork and cooperation found at Fort Polk and the Vernon Unit of the Kisatchie National Forest, these woodpeckers might bounce back even faster.
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