Airport Will Not Impact Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

We now have the last word on the Ivory-Billed woodpecker.

In a January 2007 exchange of letters between researcher Dr. Geoffrey Hill and the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NFWMD), both sides agree that relocating the Panama City airport will not impact the Ivory-Billed woodpecker, if it is living in the Choctawhatchee Basin.

Dr. Hill is the Auburn professor who believes he has sighted the Ivory-Billed woodpecker in Northwest Florida. You can read about his letter here.

Douglas Barr, Executive Director of the NFWMD, responded to Dr. Hill’s letter with a letter of his own agreeing there would be no impact on the Ivory Bill, if it is there. Barr wrote:

“I certainly agree that the proposed airport in Bay County will not impact the Ivory-Bill. As you know, on a regional scale many changes have occurred in this area over the 60-plus years since the presumed extinction of the Ivory-Bill.

“These have included the establishment and operation of Eglin Air Force Base since World War II and the associated use of air space over the river, construction of I-10 and the existing Bay County airport. Like the proposed new airport, these are far removed from the river corridor and have not impacted the riverine floodplain habitat.” (letter to Dr. Geoffrey Hill, January 19, 2007)

The question is, will the NRDC continue to misrepresent the facts about the Ivory-Bill – and will the St. Pete Times continue to write stories that ignore the facts?