U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service -- Press Releases

International Paper, Environmental Defense and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to Celebrate Five-Year Anniversary of Landmark Red-cockaded Woodpecker Habitat Conservation Plan

Contacts:
Rick Ouellette, International Paper, (912) 238-6399
Jim Rothschild, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 404-679-7291

WHO:

International Paper, Environmental Defense and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to host the special event. Representatives from each host organization will be on hand for comments.

WHAT:

A five-year anniversary celebration of the award-winning Red-cockaded Woodpecker Habitat Conservation Plan, which unites private landowners to help save an endangered species. This is the first program of its kind. The event will feature a live banding of a Red-cockaded Woodpecker and a brief tour of the nesting sites, followed by a luncheon.

WHERE:

Silver Lake in Bainbridge, GA. Free transportation will be provided to the anniversary celebration site, with a shuttle departing at 8:30 a.m. from the Jameson Inn, located at 1403 Tallahassee Hwy. in Bainbridge.

WHEN:

Tuesday, March 29, 2005, 9:00 a.m.

INTERVIEW:

Interviews may be arranged by calling Rick Ouellette, IP’s senior manager, communications, Forest Products, at 912.238.6399.

ABOUT IP:

The success of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker Habitat Conservation Plan helped International Paper win a number of major environmental awards including U.S. Department of Interior’s Conservation Service Award, World Environment Council’s Gold Medal for Corporate Environmental Achievement and American Forest & Paper Association’s Wildlife Stewardship Award.

International Paper (www.internationalpaper.com) businesses include paper, packaging and forest products. As one of the largest private landowners in the world, IP foresters and ecologists manage the woods with great care in compliance with the rigorous standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program. The SFI program is an independent certification system that ensures the perpetual planting, growing and harvesting of trees while protecting biodiversity, wildlife, plants, soil, air and water quality. In the U.S. alone, IP protects more than a half million acres of unique and environmentally important habitat on its forestlands through conservation easements and land sales to environmental groups. And, the company has a long-standing policy of using no wood from endangered forests. Headquartered in the United States, IP has operations in some 40 countries and sells its products in more than 120 nations.