Endangered woodpeckers persist, but still struggle, on private land

The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Safe Harbor was established to encourage private landowners to take steps to benefit endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers on their land. The program has reduced conflict over conservation and the abandonment of nest clusters, but a new study shows that while the program may have raised landowners’ awareness of and tolerance for their feathered neighbors, it has largely failed to improve breeding success of birds on private lands.