U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service | Southeast Region News Release

January 22, 2003

Contact:
Tom MacKenzie, (404) 679-729
Fort Stewart Public Affairs Officer, (912) 767-7111

WHO:

Red-cockaded Woodpecker Experts Attending RCW Symposium IV

WHAT:

Military Training & Conservation Field Trip at Fort Stewart

WHEN:

Option 1: All day (8:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) January 29, 2003
Option 2: 11:30 - 2:15 p.m.

WHERE:

Option 1: Meet at Savannah Marriott Riverfront
Ride with the experts all day on bus tour of environmental aspects of Fort Stewart
100 General McIntosh Boulevard Savannah, GA 31401 (912) 233-7722
Option 2: Drive your own media vehicle for a two-hour - two-event mini-tour. Meet at 11:30 at the Multipurpose Range Complex (MPRC) for lunch & live fire range demonstration. Follow bus to RCW habitat area.

This symposium is organized and hosted by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service every ten years. More than 300 biologists, land managers and other experts involved in the recovery efforts are expected to attend the five-day conference. It provide a forum to discuss status of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, highlight challenges to its recovery, and provide examples and studies to help share good ideas and
help recover the species.

Fort Stewart hosts and protects a wide array of habitats and endangered species. It is also the Army's Premier Power Projection Platform on the Atlantic Coast, covering 280,000 acres in southeastern Georgia. The all day tour (Option #1) will show how military training and conservation coexists. It will showcase Sandhill habitats, Wiregrass-Longleaf Pine
restoration, Flatwood salamander conservation efforts, and military maneuver & firing areas. The shorter optional tour (Option #2) will feature range firing and a visit one red-cockaded woodpecker habitat area. The types of weapons systems are not locked in due to ongoing deployment of the "Rock of the Marne" 3rd Infantry Division.

Please contact Tom MacKenzie, (404) 679-7291 Cell: (678) 296-6400, or Dina McKain, (912) 767-7111, not later than Jan. 28 to make coverage arrangements.

Directions to Fort Stewart and the MPRC: I-95 South to Exit 90 (Ga Hwy 144 to Fort Stewart/Richmond Hill) 24 miles (approx.) to intersection of Ga. Hwy 144 and Ga. Hwy 119. Go north on 119 toward Pembroke, Ga. The MPRC will be approx. 15 miles on your right.

For more information, please visit: http://rcwrecovery.fws.gov/symposium4.htm

For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://southeast.fws.gov/ or http://www.fws.gov/.

NOTE: You can view our releases or subscribe to receive them -- via e-mail -- at the Service's Southeast Regional home page at http://southeast.fws.gov. Our national home page is at: http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/.

Atlanta, GA 30345
Phone: 404/679-7289 Fax: 404/679-7286

2002 News Releases