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  • NEWSROOM: LARGE SCALE WILDLIFE HABITAT RESTORATION PROJECT TO HAPPEN ON JONES STATE FOREST

     

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    May 23, 2019

    Large scale wildlife habitat restoration project to happen on W. G. Jones State Forest

    Between May 25 and June 2 there will be additional personnel on the William Goodrich Jones State Forest conducting restoration work to improve potential red-cockaded woodpecker nesting and foraging areas.

    Texas A&M Forest Service Biologist Donna Work has identified four active red-cockaded woodpecker nesting sites on the W.G. Jones State Forest and predicts within six to 10 days, young fledglings should be hatching.

    “The cluster area where they will be working is inactive, meaning the red-cockaded woodpeckers are not living there right now, but we hope some will move into that area of ‘recruitment,’” said Work.

    The trees that must be removed have been identified and marked with paint and on GPS.

    To improve future habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker to forage and raise their young, a group of veterans from Team Rubicon will be assisting Texas A&M Forest Service by removing certain trees from the habitat area’s understory that impede the adult red-cockaded woodpecker from building cavities and foraging.

    “The red-cockaded woodpecker prefers mature pine forests, but they need to be open and park-like that leaves open flyways and prevents the crowding of trees so predators can’t climb up and reach their roosts,” said Work.

    A nonprofit organization dedicated to service, Team Rubicon provides veterans with an avenue to regain three things they lose after leaving the military: a purpose, gained through disaster response; community, built by serving others; and identity, created by joining a new mission.

    Since 2019, volunteers and members of Team Rubicon have responded to 35 disasters and completed over 4,200 hours of disaster response training online and in person.

    The volunteers will gain valuable sawyer training experience while assisting Texas A&M Forest Service with conservation activities. Leaders, instructors and students will be camping on the forest throughout the partnership.

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    Contacts:

    John Warner, District Forester, Texas A&M Forest Service, 936-273-2261, jwarner@tfs.tamu.edu

    Texas A&M Forest Service Communications Office, 979-458-6606, newsmedia@tfs.tamu.edu

     
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