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.
Much of the information comes from “Hope Is The Thing With Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds” by Christopher Cokinos.
Steering Committee
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, co-chair the Biology Working Group. 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.
Dr. Robert Cooper, Professor at the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources, will co-chair the Biology Working Group. Cooper's research interests include ornithology, quantitative ecology, avian conservation biology and ecosystem management. He was a contributor to the prototype Partners in Flight bird conservation plan for the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Current research projects involve assessing the effects of land management alternatives on birds, bird-insect interactions, and using birds as environmental indicators.
