The second largest red-cockaded woodpecker population in the country is located in the Sandhills long-leaf pine ecosystem of North Carolina. The country's largest population, in Appalachicola National Forest, Florida, has recently shown potential signs of decline. This increases the importance of recovery efforts in the sandhills and the other l3 designated recovery populations. The majority of the sandhills red-cockaded woodpecker population is located on Fort Bragg. However, substantial portions or meta-populations are located on private and state lands adjacent to but not contiguous with Fort Bragg. Dispersal between meta-populations is necessary to ensure genetic interchange and increase population stability. Cooperation between private, state and federal landowners is needed to establish travel corridors between meta-populations. A regiona] working group consisting of personnel from federal, state, and conservation organizations, has been established to develop, monitor and coordinate a conservation strategy for the North Carolina sandhills. Fort Bragg and the Fish and Wildlife Service are the lead agencies for this task. Current proposed initiatives include; 1) positive incentives, through coordination with the Environmental Defense Fund, to encourage red-cockaded woodpecker conservation on private lands, 2) Funding, by Fort Bragg, of development of a conservation plan for the region, 3) public outreach programs to educate the public on endangered species, 4) GIS mapping of endangered species locations, various landownerships, and habitat types, to identify areas crucial to link meta-populations. In addition, Fort Bragg is currently implementing cavity enhancement and habitat management throughout the base.