THE RED COCKADED WOODPECKER

The logo of Forest Creek Golf Club has always been a red- cockaded woodpecker.  The choice of that bird is a reflection of the efforts made during the development of Forest Creek to protect the red-cockaded woodpecker and its unique  habitat. The red-cockaded woodpecker is an endangered species which lives in mature pine forests and requires old (usually 100+ years) living pines for cavity sites.  Cavity sites are used for nesting and roosting. The site on which Forest Creek Golf Club was created is a mature longleaf pine forest of this type.  Numerous cavity trees  exist on Forest Creek property and are utilized by this endangered species.

As the golf course and real estate development were built, the design and routing of the roads and golf holes took into account the existence of cavity trees. Older trees and especially the most mature flat top long leaf pines were avoided in construction.  Efforts to protect those trees are ongoing.  The red-cockaded woodpecker, its cavity trees and its foraging habitat are all protected by federal law. Protecting the foraging habitat requires removal of the understory scrub oaks.

There has always been a sensitivity to environmental concerns at Forest Creek.  Our use of pesticides has been careful because of wood pecker habitat concerns and also because of our location in a watershed used for drinking water.  We have regularly tested the waters leaving the site for pesticides and fertilizers and have found the waters to be clean and safe.  We manage the understory of the longleaf pine forest to promote woodpecker habitat and protect the unique sandhills ecosystem. Our consulting biologist Jay Carter has staff who monitor the existing cavity trees for woodpecker groups and create new cavity trees when existing trees are lost to lightning or wind.

The red-cockaded woodpecker is unusual in that they live in family groups and cluster together in colonies.  Our population of red-cockaded woodpeckers has grown at Forest Creek from the initial tree and colony surveys in the 1980's and 1990's.  The fish and wildlife services regularly bands these birds so that they can monitor their movements and successes. One of the first birds to reestablish a colony along the south golf course migrated from Fort Bragg and established his group near the 14th green on the South course. He was a pioneer and his offspring have established other clusters.  Unfortunately he was killed several years ago when lightning struck the cavity tree in which he was nesting. Our logo at Forest Creek is unique and special.  We have worked around these birds and worked to promote their survival.  When you play golf at Forest Creek you are playing in a very special ecosystem of long leaf pines, wiregrass, and red -cockaded woodpeckers. This ecosystem does not exist in very many other places.