Corkscrew Swamp Investigating an Ancient Forested Wetland by Jason Lauritsen

Audubon Florida has substantial concerns about Wood Storks throughout the Greater Everglades, the most important part of their range. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has signaled its intent to downlist the Wood Stork from Endangered to Threatened.

Audubon supports downlisting species once:
1.the threats which led to population declines have been adequately addressed, and
2.populations rebound, meeting or exceeding recovery thresholds adopted in the species' USFWS Recovery Plan.

Unfortunately, these conditions have not yet been met for the stork in a large part of their historic range. Significant threats remain that would prevent recovery in South Florida.

The colony at Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in the Western Everglades has historically been the largest and most consistent nesting colony in the US. However, storks have failed to nest at Corkscrew in five of the past six seasons. Jason Lauritsen, Corkscrew's Assistant Director, will bring us up to date on this and other issues.