Some of us are old enough to remember 2004-2005 when the papers were filled with news of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a camera-shy bird who makes his/her home in the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas.
Oh, what copy that story made! It sure beat writing about John Kerry's campaign and other national disasters.
For a few years there, ornithologists were all the rage in Arkansas, emphasis on rage. Because the debate got heated. Either the ivory-billed woodpecker lived, and the government should recognize such, or it was extinct, and you people should face facts.
Folks actually fought about this story. And, better yet, wrote letters to the editor! An editorial on the ivory-billed woodpecker would get more comment than anything we'd say about some smaller matter, such as creation-versus-evolution or who should be the next basketball coach. Those were the days.
And--will miracles never cease?--they might be back. The bird. And the stories/letters/comments.
Bobby Harrison of Alabama and the front page won’t say exactly where he caught the ivory-billed woodpecker on tape, but he’s seen it in the Big Woods of Arkansas. The Lord God Bird (nicknamed that because of what people would say when it dropped out of the sky in front of them) should not be declared extinct, he says. Not while people are still taking pictures of the bird. Or what they think is the bird.
If the animal is still pecking on trees in the perfectly named Bayou DeView area, then it necessarily can't be extinct. Even the government should have awareness enough to understand that. What the bird, and its fans, need is more evidence. So much more that it turns into proof.
Before 2004, the ivory-billed woodpecker had not been seen since World War II. And in Louisiana at that. Then it (may have) appeared in this most natural of states.
The eastern part of Arkansas rejoiced, and printed T-shirts and other tourist merchandise featuring the bird. The news sparked a little boom of sorts in Brinkley, where things like ivory-billed haircuts got popular. Arkansas took the ivory-billed woodpecker to heart. It was a good match.
But, just as in 2004, all these years later it would be much easier for the bird's fans if he, she or it would just make regular appearances, if for nothing else than to hush up the naysayers and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Not that anybody can blame the bird for keeping to itself. The world hasn't been friendly to the Lord God Bird. You'd lay low, too, if your habitat was being changed so much that you were on the verge of extinction.
The good news is that the ivory-billed woodpecker has friends in Arkansas, and not just in Arkansas. And they believe they have evidence, if not proof, of its existence. They say they know from pileated woodpeckers. And what they've got on film is different.
Doubtless this latest news story--written by Bill Bowden, who gets all the good stories--will send many people into the Big Woods again. With cameras, video recorders and iPhones.
For our part, we're keeping the good thought. For this species and for Arkansas. It would be good news on so many levels if the bird makes a real comeback, even with mankind's help. And becomes a success story. One that another species, one that walks on two legs, can be proud of.
Knock on wood.