The Suwannee region may have been where the species made its last substantial stand.
There were once so many woodpeckers there, book author Jackson said, that about half of the 400 specimens now in museums were collected in the vicinity.
Geoffrey Hill, a biologist at Auburn University in Alabama, thinks specimen hunting was the final straw that caused the bird to effectively vanish.
"Some people say the shooting was of little consequence," he said. "But I think the shooters were the death knell in many areas."
Not that Hill thinks the bird is extinct. He reported a May 2005 sighting on the Choctawhatchee River of Florida's panhandle in September.
If a few birds do survive, they may be poised for a comeback. The forests have been regrowing for 50 or 60 years, opening the door for ivory-bills to repopulate their old range.
And the Suwannee is a prime location for a boom, as long as the river region can withstand the latest threat: real estate development.
"If we have any hope for ivory-bills in the area, we've got to find them now and get the habitat protected," Jackson, of Florida Gulf Coast University, said.
"It's not going to be there in 20 years. It might not be there in 10 years."
Icon for Forest Protection
According to Jackson, if any birds did survive, it is probably because they were protected by the hunting culture of the South.
"Large forest areas have been preserved as places to hunt," he said. "I think those are places where the ivory-bill might still exist."
Just as the birds can coexist with deer and turkey hunters, they should also be able to coexist with tourists visiting the Suwannee River.
"If the bird is there and the habitat is protected, I think the bird will do fine," Jackson said. "I don't think people in kayaks or canoes or hiking are going to make a lot of difference."
Butcher, of the Audubon Society, agrees, saying that "there's no reason to suspect that they'd be more disturbed by hunters, boaters, or birdwatchers than any other bird would be."
David Sibley, author and illustrator of the Sibley Guide to Birds, fears that the recent sightings will prove to be just "wishful thinking."
(Read a related feature on the search for the ivory-bill and the debate over its current existence.)
But he thinks that habitat preservation of the birds' range is still important.
"The river systems of North Florida are home to hundreds of species and have tremdendous value as natural habiat," Sibley said by email. "And if the ivory-billed is there, it will continue to benefit" as well.
According to Jackson, "reports of ivory-billed woodpeckers in Arkansas and now the panhandle of Florida give us hope.
"But hope is not proof. It's the fire that incites us to seek the truth," he said.
"Whether or not there are ivory-bills out there, we have the opportunity to protect what remains of old-growth bottomland forests.
"Those forests are ribbons of life that provide highways for migrant birds that deliver songs to backyards across eastern North America."
The habitat is also important for black bears, recreation, and water quality.
"The ivory-bill is the icon," Jackson said, "but all of these other things would benefit as well."
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