Red-cockaded Woodpecker Recovery

The goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) red-cockaded woodpecker recovery program is to conserve the species and the ecosystem upon which it depends. Today, the red-cockaded woodpecker is found in 11 states (AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, NC, MS, OK, SC, VA, and TX), and occurs on federal, state and private lands. Red-cockaded woodpeckers have increased in number range-wide in response to recovery and management programs, from an estimated 4,694 active clusters in 1993 to 6,105 in 2006. Management plans have been developed for federal and state agencies with recovery populations. On private lands, more than 40 percent of the known red-cockaded woodpeckers are benefiting from management approved by the Service through Memorandum of Agreements, Safe Harbor Agreements, and Habitat Conservation Plans.

The Service administers recovery and consultation programs for the red-cockaded woodpecker in accordance with the Endangered Species Act through 16 Ecological Services field offices distributed throughout the southeastern states of Region 4, as well as field offices in Region 2 (Texas and Oklahoma) and Region 5 (Virginia). In addition, the Service’s Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Longleaf Pine Coordinator works to ensure consistent application of recovery and conservation policies and programs among, between, and individually on federal, state, and private lands in the Southeast. The Service promotes conservation, restoration, and ecologically sound management of the southeast's "endangered" longleaf pine ecosystem, the ecosystem upon which red-cockaded woodpecker recovery depends, via full implementation of the red-cockaded woodpecker recovery plan.

Contact Us:

RCW Recovery Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
6578 Dogwood View Parkway
Jackson, MS 39213
(601) 321-1124 - phone
(601) 965-4340 - fax