FORT BENNING, Ga. — Federal officials say a woodpecker declared endangered half a century ago has recovered enough to relax federal protections.
An environmental group official says nothing he's seen so far justifies the change.
Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told landowners in April there was a chance of dropping all protection for red-cockaded woodpeckers, it is instead proposing to list them as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue scheduled an announcement Friday at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Red-cockaded woodpeckers were once found from New Jersey to Florida and east to Texas. The remaining birds are now scattered around 11 states.