POWERGRAMS

Since 1973, Southern Company and its operating companies have made concerted efforts to protect the RCW. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Alabama Power and Southern Company – along with state and federal agencies, landowners and other conservation groups – are celebrating the birds' comeback. The iconic bird has safe harbor at the company's Lake Mitchell in central Alabama. There, Alabama Power has partnered with the USFWS and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to manage more than 1,600 acres of longleaf forest around the lake, helping the birds increase their numbers. Birds' triumphant return The RCW's positive gains in population and habitat during the past several years led the U.S. government to upgrade the birds' standing. This spritely woodpecker's preferred habitat is longleaf pine, an extremely dense wood. It takes the bird a while to peck out its nest. Loss of high-quality longleaf pine habitat occurred as trees were cut down for use as lumber. Jason Carlee, Water Field Services manager in Environmental Affairs, noted that Southern Company's efforts have been geared to providing funding to partners for planting and managing longleaf pines through prescribed burns every five years or more. "Our efforts are part of a larger regionwide effort and have helped contribute to the bird being downlisted," Carlee said. "Alabama Power has a long history of managing these forests and has made a commitment to continue managing them. Efforts like these and those of other private, federal and state partners to create and properly manage the longleaf pine habitat that this species needs have helped with that recovery effort." Alabama Power also conducts midstory clearing of underbrush surrounding the longleaf pines at Lake Mitchell, along with annually monitoring the RCW population. With the help of Conservation Southeast, the company has installed artificial cavity inserts in some longleaf pines to provide the woodpeckers with ready nests. Alabama Power ensures there are more than enough nests for the number of birds in each cluster, and company biologists have also worked with USFWS to place identification bands on the birds. Southern Company helped create and fund the Southern Range Translocation Cooperative (SRTC), a translocation program for RCW, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina. The program works by relocating sub-adult RCWs to small, at-risk bird populations in other geographic areas. In 20 years, Alabama has received 79 RCW from the translocation cooperative. "The cooperative is a grand example of creative teamwork between states, public and private organizations," said Jesalyn McCurry, environmental specialist for Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at Southern Company Services in Birmingham, who has been part of Southern Company's groundbreaking work in longleaf pine forests for 21 years. With sustained use of proven best practices for the RCW's protection, Carlee said the USFWS anticipates the species populations will remain stable or improve over time as conservation efforts continue. "The successful recovery of RCW populations is a testament to the benefits of public-private partnerships," Carlee said. "This has been a longstanding effort within the conservation community to improve the habitat that these birds need. A lot of folks came together to work toward protecting this species. Any time the USFWS can downlist or de-list a species shows that things are working for the benefit of that species – things are going in the right direction." Southeast's iconic red-cockaded woodpecker makes a comeback Conserva on Southeast installs ready-made nests for Alabama Power. (Nik Layman/Alabama Power) By Donna Cope After more than 50 years, the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) is being downlisted from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 4

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