[at-l] Possibly OT- Woodpeckers, All they can be!

[janl2@mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

I saw this release. Southern Pines is the western border of Fort Bragg, more
or less; Fayetteville is the eastern edge. The land spoken of borders the
south.

In between lies much longleaf pine timber, and, of course, the red-cockeaded
woodpeckers.

Red-cockadeds are thriving here. There are several nesting pairs on the
protected land I ride on (Weymouth Woods and Walthour-Moss Foundation
land.). You can tell the red-cockaded nests because they dig cavities in
live longleaf pine trees, clever birds, to discourage predators - using the
tree's own sticky resin. You can find the holes easily by looking up for
high, gooey sap streaks.

As I write, I can hear the booming of artillery from nearby Fort Bragg. (It
is futile to try to hang pictures straight on the walls). 
It is interesting to me that the Nature Conservancy has partnered up with
the Army. Go Army!

> Message: 15
> From: Slyatpct@aol.com
> Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 08:40:40 EDT
> To: at-l@backcountry.net
> Subject: [at-l] Possibly OT- Woodpeckers, All they can be!
> 
> Army Develops Pilot Program to Protect Base, Woodpeckers
> 
> By WILLIAM L. HOLMES
> .c The Associated Press 
> 
> FORT BRAGG, N.C. (April 8) - Environmentalists bent on protecting
> endangered 
> species have a new - and formidable - ally: the U.S. Army.
> 
> As a federal agency, the Army has long been required to protect
> flora and 
> fauna that are declared endangered. At Fort Bragg, a 167,000-acre
> post 
> adjoining Fayetteville, work to protect and restore the
> red-cockaded 
> woodpecker began at least a decade ago.
> 
> The effort only recently became a joint project of the military
> and The 
> Nature Conservancy, an international environmental group. The
> collaboration 
> is serving as a pilot program for the Army and a model for bases
> across the 
> country.
> 
> And it serves the soldiers as well as the birds: By restricting
> development 
> on the fringes of Fort Bragg, the Army can avoid fights with
> potential 
> neighbors over the noise and disruption of military training.
> 
> North Carolina's Sandhills region is home to the second-largest
> red-cockaded 
> woodpecker population in the world.
> 
> Army bases throughout the Southeast have been called on to protect
> the 
> species, which makes its home in the dwindling longleaf pine
> ecosystem that 
> once stretched unbroken from Virginia to Texas.

-- 
========================================
    	Jan Leitschuh Sporthorses Ltd.

	Website:  
	http://www.mindspring.com/~janl2/index.html

========================================