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19. The Fellowship Concludes
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Chapter 19 Q The Fellowship Concludes The Audubon Association is not prepared at this time to broadcast information about the locations of ivory-bills in this country, for the obvious reason that publicity will do most of them no good. —James T. Tanner Jim Tanner knew what he knew. The few remaining ivory-billed woodpeckers left in the wild were in trouble. In July 1939 he typed his final report to Audubon . His three-year study had come to an end, almost. In October, the National Association of Audubon Societies held its thirtyfifth annual convention in New York City. Tanner was one of the presenters, revealing his findings with a short slide show—just twelve photographs—and a brief discussion about his research on the ivory-bill. He began by paying tribute to the one partner he had for the entire journey: his 1931 Model A Ford. “An excellent car for woods and muddy roads,” he commented. “It has been the first car to break a way over many a muddy road, has had several springs broken, mufflers knocked off and running-boards knocked loose, bumpers broken on trees, and the front axle bent, but it still runs. In the three seasons of fieldwork it has traveled about 40,000 miles. In the rear of this car I carried a complete, although light, camping outfit, and could carry enough there to be self-sufficient and comfortable for a week or more.” (Tanner had bought the car used in August 1936 for $175 and ultimately sold it in December 1939 for $45.) Tanner also acknowledged that the car was intrinsically better in the dry season than in the wet, but even then it could only take him to the edges of the swamps. After that he needed a boat, canoe, horse, or mule—or he simply hiked as far as he could. “Legwork was needed and a pair of webbed feet would have been useful,” he joked. Tanner couldn’t even guess how many miles he had covered but knew he had worn out fifty dollars’ worth of boots. (In 1938 a pair of Chippewa-brand calf-high outdoorsman boots from Sears and Roebuck sold for $8.98.) 220 The Fellowship Concludes He ended his slide presentation with a magnificent—even regal—photo of a protective male ivory-bill at its nest hole. The gentle humor that began the talk gave way to the somber truth of his findings. “The ivory-bill has frequently been associated with muck, has been called a melancholy bird, but it is not that at all,” he reflected. “As you can see from this picture, it lives in the sun, not the shade, in surroundings as bright as its own plumage. It is true that the man trying to watch and follow these birds is probably in the shade and mud, among the fallen trees and running vines, but that does not affect the ivory-bill in the least. He stays above all that, and is a handsome, vigorous, graceful bird.” For centuries, the ivory-bills had survived by being somewhat removed from any perils beneath them. A hunter could only pursue them so far, for they were creatures of the canopy. But Jim knew the species was in dire straits; perhaps it was already too late: When this ivory-bill study started, almost three years ago, no one had a definite idea as to how many ivory-bills there were in this country nor where they were. As the work of finding the numbers and distribution of the birds progressed, the importance of knowing just how many ivory-bills there were and the locations of the birds became evident, for I found that the birds are now so few and in so few localities that conservation measures will have to be aimed at these localities and the conditions peculiar to each. The imperative first step will be the saving of the small ivory-bill populations still extant by knowing where they are and what to do for them. Tanner also knew that keeping at least part of what he had learned a secret was also imperative: The Audubon Association is not prepared at this time to broadcast information about the locations of ivory-bills in this country, for the obvious reason that publicity will do most of them no good. As for the numbers of ivory-bills still living, the number is probably around twenty-five individuals. [Tanner later revised that down to twenty-two...