Tennessee to reintroduce bird species last seen in Cherokee National Forest in 1994

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A species of woodpecker that has not been seen in Tennessee since the 1990s may soon return to the state.

In partnership with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency announced a plan on Wednesday. to reintroduce the red-cockaded woodpecker.

The species was once native to upland mature pine and oak-pine savannas in Tennessee, but fire suppression, logging of old-growth pines, and habitat fragmentation led the red-cockaded woodpecker's population to be eliminated from the state. While the last time a red-cockaded woodpecker was spotted in Tennessee was in 1994 in the Cherokee National Forest, the last time the bird was seen in the western side of the state was