Fast Facts --

In the early 1900s, conservationists warned of the impending extinction of the Ivory-billed woodpecker.

From 1937 to 1939, James Tanner, a young doctoral student at Cornell University, researched the Ivory-billed woodpeckers of the Singer Tract.

Prior to the 2004 discovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker at Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, this was the last authenticated sighting of the bird in the United States.

Recovery Team Executive Committee

Sam D. Hamilton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Regional Director in Atlanta, Georgia, serves as Chair. A native of Mississippi, Hamilton oversees Fish and Wildlife Service activities in 10 southeastern states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The region is home to more than 125 National Wildlife Refuges, 14 national fish hatcheries, 16 ecological services offices, and 38 law enforcement offices.

Scott Henderson, Director of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in Little Rock, Arkansas, has been director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission since 2003 and served as assistant director of the agency from 1987-2003.

Dr. John Fitzpatrick, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology, is the co-leader of the ivory-bill search effort in Arkansas. He has been the director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology since 1995. Previously, he was executive director of Florida's Archbold Biological Station and curator of birds at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

John Bridgeland, president and CEO of Civic Enterprises, served as a teaching fellow in the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he lectured on Presidential Decision Making. Recently, Bridgeland served as Assistant to the President of the United States and the first Director of the USA Freedom Corps. In that role, he coordinated more than $1 billion in domestic and international service initiatives and worked with non-profits, corporations and schools.

Brig. General Robert Crear, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Vicksburg District since 1998. The Vicksburg District encompasses 68,000 square miles in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, covering seven major river basins and 270 miles of the Mississippi river and is one of the largest civil works districts in the Corps.

Kirk Duppes, a member of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s national board, will serve on this executive committee.

Nancy Delamar, The Nature Conservancy, is director of external affairs for TNC’s south central division, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. DeLamar’s responsibilities include working closely with each program in the division, with federal and state agency directors and with the Conservancy’s worldwide government relations staff in Arlington, Virginia.

Mr. Charles (Chuck) Myers, Regional Forester of the Forest Service’s Southern Region, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. He manages a budget exceeding $400 million and about 3,100 employees who care for more than 12.8 million acres of National Forests and two Grasslands – including the country’s only tropical rainforest in Puerto Rico. Chuck also oversees cooperative efforts with state and private landowners for 13 states in the Southeast

Larry Wiseman, president and chief executive officer of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), created and co-founded the Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources in 1995. The American Forest Foundation serves as a working platform for partnerships among industry, the environmental and education communities. The Foundation's three core programs include the American Tree Farm System®, Forests for Watersheds and Wildlife ™, and Project Learning Tree. ®

Bob Nixon, Chairman of the Washington D.C. based Earth Conservation Corps founded in 1989 as a White House initiative.  The ECC directs its efforts towards two very valuable resources: our natural environment and our youth. Working with young adults from under-resourced communities, the program instills pride in their natural surroundings and provides leadership tools to make them stewards of their future.   Mr. Nixon was previously a producer of motion pictures, having co-produced "Gorillas in the Mist."

The leaders of the recovery team’s working groups are:

Jon Andrew, chief of the Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System in the Southeast, will chair the Steering Committee. He has worked on national wildlife refuges throughout the country. He has also served as the Chief of the Division of Migratory Bird Management in Arlington, Virginia.

Dr. Ken Rosenberg, director of conservation science at Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, will lead the Biology Working Group. He is the director of conservation science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He has spent many years studying foraging specialization in Amazonian rain forest species. A widely known North American birder, Rosenberg serves as co-captain of the Lab's World Series of Birding team, the Sapsuckers.

Kenny Ribbeck, forestry programs manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will co-lead the Habitat Management and Conservation Working Group. He serves on a number of professional organizations including the Society of American Foresters, The Wildlife Society, Louisiana Forestry Association, and the Louisiana Wildlife Biologists Association. Ribbeck is also forestry programs manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Dr. Tom Foti, chief of research with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, will co-chair the Habitat Management and Conservation Working Group. Foti supervises the Commission’s research staff and develops and implements inventory and monitoring programs. He belongs to a number of professional organizations including American Association for the Advancement of Science, Ecological Society of America, Natural Areas Association, Arkansas Academy of Science, Southeastern Association of Biologists, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, and Society of Wetland Scientists.

David Goad, deputy director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, will share leadership of the Corridor of Hope Conservation working group. Goad has been employed for the past 17 years with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. He has worked as a wildlife management area biologist, regional project coordinator, black bear program leader, as assistant chief for the wildlife management division, and since February 2003, as deputy director.