BOILING SPRING LAKES — As housing developments begin to push deeper into Boiling Spring Lakes forests, developers risk colliding with the federally protected red-cockaded woodpecker, a species facing endangerment since 1973. However, the city is upholding its long-standing protections.
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The red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) — a small, black-and-white bird that thrives in longleaf pine ecosystems — is facing mounting pressure in southeast North Carolina as development expands into its remaining habitat. A conservationist in the area and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff member say that while the species has been downlisted — which means its status was changed from endangered to threatened — it doesn’t mean protections should be loosened, as the bird’s future in the state could hinge on how construction is managed.
“When managing red-cockaded woodpeckers there is no finish date, it’s something you do indefinitely,” conservation biologist Andy Wood said.
According to Boiling Spring Lakes’ assistant city manager Nicole Morgan, residential developments being built can often intersect with the red-cockaded woodpecker territories. The city currently has 85 active residential development permits approved and four non-residential developments in review.
“There’s considerable development underway that is bumping up against the poor woodpecker who’s just trying to survive as a species,” Wood said.
According to Wood, the woodpecker is primarily a coastal plain species whose range extends from East Texas to eastern North Carolina. With the occasional rare populations seen in the mountains of Georgia.
The species is protected by the Endangered Species Act and in 1973 was listed as endangered. At that time, approximately 1,500 to 3,500 active clusters were estimated to live range-wide. In October 2024, when the species was downlisted to the threatened status, it was viewed as a small win for conservationists. The USFWS estimated there were 7,800 active clusters range-wide last fall.
“It’s ludicrous to believe that the red-cockaded woodpecker is making any kind of a comeback,” he said. “They can’t make a comeback because it’s losing habitat, including here in southeastern North Carolina, the stronghold for the species in the state.”
The largest contributor to the species’ decline was the depletion of their habitat. They live primarily in longleaf pine forests which make up a large portion of Boiling Spring Lakes surrounding area.
Wood said there once were 93 million acres of longleaf pine in the southeastern U.S. that he says has now been reduced to 3% of its original size. “There’s 3 million viable acres of longleaf pine and viable is a caveat,” he said, noting the species needs a large territory to support their family units.
They require a territory of more than 75 acres, but thrive better in 160 to 200 acres to support one family, he said.
The red-cockaded woodpecker will use other trees, such as loblolly pine and pond pine — which can also be found in Boiling Spring Lakes — if that’s all they can find to construct their homes. Once they nest, the trees are considered active cavity trees meaning they have stricter regulations for removal.
One way conservation efforts have been maintained in North Carolina is through its statewide Safe Harbor Program, established by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in October 2006. It’s a voluntary program developed to address the conservation needs of the red-cockaded woodpecker in the state.
John Carpenter, NCWRC’s safe harbor program coordinator, said the program helps alleviate landowners’ fear about having the red-cockaded woodpecker on their properties. This is because they receive a commitment that the federal agency will not require additional management activities without the landowner’s approval if they are entered into the program and are practicing pro-woodpecker activities. Examples of these activities include maintaining cavity trees on the lot or placing artificial cavities to lure them to new locations.
Carpenter said through the work of the safe harbor program and state-wide collaboration, the birds are in a solid place but can’t be protected from everything.
“They’re very stable and growing,” he said. “We can’t protect them from everything, a hurricane can come through since that’s definitely a threat down here, but they are doing good.”
Boiling Spring Lakes’ approach
While communities in surrounding areas, such as New Hanover and Pender counties, have rules in place that seek to mitigate the removal of longleaf pines and other “significant trees,” neither county mentions putting these ordinances in place for the protection of vulnerable species.
Because of Boiling Spring Lakes’ deliberate focus on the species and their collaboration with wildlife agencies, Wood says their effort is “one of the best examples of a community-based conservation endeavor” he’s seen.
In partnership with the Wildlife Resources Commission and the USFWS, Boiling Spring Lakes monitors land to ensure they are maintaining the bird’s habitat as they expand development to meet the demands of their growing population..
The town’s population was estimated at 6,738 in 2024, a 13.4% increase from 2020’s 5,940, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
To help monitor tree removal, the city has held a strict tree ordinance since 2006, which Morgan said was put in place as an effort to work with the USFWS to preserve the red-cockaded woodpecker’s habitat. Developers must have a permit to remove any tree that is 8 inches in diameter or larger.
To evaluate plots for removal permits, Boiling Spring Lakes uses a map updated by the USFWS. The map indicates three zones of land that include red-cockaded territories: red, blue or green.
Red zones show land lying within a cluster. These indicate areas with active cavity trees, plus a 200-foot buffer. When developing in these zones, tree removal is strictly assessed and developers are often asked to halt development during the birds breeding season.
Blue zones are the foraging areas outside of the clusters, often where birds search for food and defend their territory.
Green zones do not contain red-cockaded woodpecker activity. While these zones will still require a tree removal permit, the permit doesn’t need further review from the USFWS.
Morgan said it’s rare developers work within the red zones. Since starting with the city in 2017 she has only seen a couple instances. When they do, the city closely partners the USFWS to make sure all trees are properly surveyed to determine how and when removal can occur, as to cause the least disturbance to the birds.
Not all developers are working within these zones. For instance, Full Spectrum Design Firm, a design and construction company that serves both North and South Carolina, has only adjacently encountered the woodpeckers and is working to keep it that way.
Paul Beyer, project manager with the firm, hasn’t struggled to clear land due to the birds but he has noticed them at various construction sites he’s worked on in Brunswick County. Though, the birds aren’t always flying around, but rather drilling holes into boards they’ve already installed.
“They don’t stay very long,” he said. “They’ll come in where there’s food and then do their little damage or hunt around … and then you don’t see them for weeks.”
Melissa Hunt, the chief operating officer of Full Spectrum, said while they have only had brief encounters with the woodpeckers, she believes as development expands, encroachment on the species’ habitat could become harder to avoid as the company looks to acquire new land.
“As the companies like ours continue to expand farther towards Columbus County, I think we’re going to hit more and more of that as an issue, instead of just the aftereffect,” she said.
To avoid the time commitment and cost associated with properly assessing and clearing the area of trees, Hunt said the woodpeckers remain front-of-mind as she and her team work to steer clear of lots with the birds. This is something she says not all developers do.
“We, like many of the builders, are trying to avoid those properties,” she said. “I hate to say it, but there’s two things going to happen, good builders are going to avoid it because they don’t want to deal with the logistics and the cost associated with it. The bad builders are going to go in and make it seem as if it’s not there.”
If trees are removed without proper permits the city issues a fine to the developer and notify the USFWS of the removal.
Morgan is confident in the city’s partnership with the USFWS. She said the city didn’t plan to loosen their ordinance even though the bird has been downlisted to threatened, but says as development continues to expand, it may become more common for construction to encroach on the birds.
“I would think that after a while you’re going to start seeing more requests for red lot development because you’re going to run out of other lots at some point,” she said. “It could certainly begin to cause an impact.”
Wood stressed education is key to the conservation process and it isn’t only needed at a government level through laws and ordinances, but also needs to occur throughout the community and construction sites to ensure the species is being properly monitored and conserved to avoid any wrong-doing that may happen in the development process.
“The final arbiter, the person who is responsible for ensuring the environment is protected, is not some egghead from an ivory tower education institution or even an environmental regulator,” he said. “The final responsibility falls on equipment operators, and if they aren’t trained in what it is we’re concerned about, they’re not going to know a red-cockaded woodpecker from a Pileated Woodpecker [another protected species].”
Carpenter says the NCWRC is continuing to do the best they can, whether through their development partnerships or by trying to improve the species’ connection to other land.
“I think there’s always going to be more to do and more we can do,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty dedicated people that are constantly looking for new properties to acquire and conserve … to try and enhance the connectivity so that these birds have the opportunity to move around if they need to.”
Have tips or suggestions for Sophia Walsh? Email sophia@localdailymedia.com
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