Timber management by Mississippi tree farmer creates safe harbor for tortoises and red-cockaded woodpeckers

In 2005, Lambert entered into the first Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Mississippi for threatened gopher tortoises and endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers. He enrolled all 750 acres for the existing tortoises—and the woodpeckers that he hopes will eventually return to their historic range. The effect of the agreement is “business as usual,” he says, adding that “I agreed not to degrade the environment for these species. They both have the same requirements.”