Deep in the Big Woods of Arkansas is a mystery that dates back to 2004.
"Birds don’t come back from the dead very often," said David Luneau, a bird watcher. “It was a big deal because it was a bird thought to have been extinct for 50 or 80 years."
The Ivory-billed woodpecker, now on the endangered species list, was thought to be extinct until a kayaker from Hot Springs claimed to spot the bird on Bayou DeView in Brinkley in 2004.
David Luneau and others began searching for the bird. Several spottings were reported but no one could prove it until April 2004 when Luneau left his camcorder running.
"I could see just a little bird flying off in the camcorder," said Luneau.
"Pretty grainy video, but it was enough to ignite a lot of excitement in the conservation community," said Trey Reid with Arkansas Game and Fish.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and US Fish and Wildlife found the evidence enough to take the bird off the of the extinct species list, then hiring professional bird watchers to find more proof of its existence.
"People were excited and mainly because there were so many new people coming here," said Cyndi Doepel from Brinkley.
According to Doepel, bird watchers came from all over with hope of spotting the ivory-billed themselves.
“It shut down a lot of activity,” said Reid.
The birds spotting closed hunting and timber operations temporarily.
“When an animal is an endangered species there are certain requirements for protection," said Luneau.
Knowing the woodpecker could be living in the Big Woods of Arkansasm, environmentalist wanted to make sure its habitat wouldn't be disturbed. That caused a judge to temporarily stop a major water project from moving forward.
“To make sure it was not going to have an adverse effect on a potential Ivory-billed woodpecker," said Ryan Benefield with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission.
According to Benefield, The Grand Prairie Irrigation Project was pushed back years, initially because of the Ivory-billed woodpecker.
"The majority of it, including the pump station, was on hold," said Benefield.
Currently more water is being used from the ground than can be sustained in that area. This water project will take water out of the White River and using canals and pipes, will move it across prairies to provide controlled amounts of water. The biggest and first part of the project was a giant pump station in DeValls Bluff that was set to begin construction in 2004, just after the bird’s sighting.
“We were hoping the pump station could be completed in three or four years from that original 2004 start date," said Benefield.
It wasn’t until 2008 that a judge ruled the project wouldn’t harm the bird and could move forward. By this point though, some of the funding had stopped or shifted.
"The original delay didn’t cause all of it, but it sent us into a point where additional delays happened," said Benefield.
Now a project that was supposed to be complete in 2007, is set to have a ribbon cutting ceremony in 2019, likely costing millions more than anticipated.
"This will replace the need to take as much water out of the ground through providing the surface water to these farmers," said Benefield.
Meanwhile many avid bird watchers still talk and debate over the Ivory-billed.
“In the conservation community, there’s still debate about was it really an Ivory-billed woodpecker," said Reid.
In the past decade, there haven’t been anymore reputable sightings of the Ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas.
"Still to this day people come to Brinkley saying they’re looking for the Ivory-billed woodpecker," said Doepel.
While local and state agencies have backed off, there are still avid birders searching, but now with private dollars.
“It’s going to take some pretty compelling evidence to prove its existence," said Reid.
So is the secretive bird still out there?
“I think he’s still lurking, I think they’re out there and I don’t think they want to be found," said Doepel.
Whether he’s ever spotted again or not, the Ivory-billed woodpecker certainly left his mark in Arkansas.
“We all hope there’s some small breeding population somewhere that can be recovered but we haven’t found that population," said Luneau.