Dr. Paige Ferguson, along with UA M.S. alumus Emily Brown, recently published  a structured decision making analysis aimed at increasing the Red-cockaded Woodpecker population in the Oakmulgee Ranger District of the Talladega National Forest and balancing stakeholder objectives in this area. Their paper is one of the first published studies on the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in this 157,000-acre forested area, which is located between Tuscaloosa and Selma, Alabama. It is home to the largest population of red-cockaded woodpeckers remaining in Alabama. Their models showed that inserting artificial cavities into trees has the greatest probability of boosting the woodpecker’s population through providing additional nesting sites and protection from prescribed burns used to manage the National Forest. Read the original publication in the Journal for Nature Conservation and a feature on this publication in the UA News.