Researcher: No Evidence Airport Would Impact Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers

Late last year, Auburn professor Dr. Geoffrey Hill published a report indicating he believed he had found evidence of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in the Choctawhatchee River Basin. The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker has long been thought to be extinct.

Dr. Hill's research threw the NRDC spin machine into overdrive, as they claimed the discovery of Ivory-Bills required the FAA to kill the airport relocation project. More than one news outlet bit on the story.

Earlier this month, Dr. Hill sent a letter to the Northwest Florida Water Management District outlining his future research plans to determine if the Ivory-Bills are in the area. In the letter, Dr. Hill addressed the airport issue head-on. Here's what he said:

"One issue that has been raised is the potential impact of our discovery of Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers on the international airport that is slated for construction on lands east of the Choctawhatchee River...

At present, I have seen no evidence that the proposed airport development would negatively impact Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers living in swamp forests along the Choctawhatchee River."

In fact, the area Dr. Hill is searching is closer to Eglin AFB military training airspace than the new airport. But the point is clear - "no evidence that the proposed airport development would negatively impact Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers" - that's straight from the researcher himself.