Imperial Dreams: Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker Through the Wild Sierra Madre

For those of us who love birds and Mexico, Tim Gallagher's "Imperial Dreams: Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker through the Wild Sierra Madre," is a sobering book. It chronicles the willful destruction of habitat--both animal and human--in northwest Mexico by loggers, ranchers, drug gangs, corruption and ignorance. Editor in chief of the world famous Cornell Lab of Ornithology's magazine "Living Bird," Gallagher himself nearly becomes a dead duck in his quest to find an extant specimen of the once thriving imperial woodpecker, the world's largest.What Gallagher discovers through several forays into the rugged Sierra Madre Occidental--the last in 2011--is a lawless land where drug cartels rule, practicing intimidation, kidnapping, rape, extortion and murder. Further, the gangs continue the ongoing decimation of rare highland forests--the last refuge of the imperial woodpecker--in order to fashion opium and marijuana growing fields as well as airfields to fly the contraband north to U.S. consumers.Along the way Gallagher feeds us fascinating tidbits of Sierra Madre and northern Mexico history, including stories of Geronimo and raiding Apaches (not obliterated there until the 1930s), Pancho Villa and General Pershing, expatriate American Mormons who still cling to their ranches despite kidnappings by the Zetas and other drug gangs, and the demise of the indigenous wolves and grizzlies.But the most lasting impression of "Imperial Dreams" is how dangerous that part of Mexico has become for the human species. Gallagher encounters horror upon horror perpetrated by the drug gangs, renting the lives and culture of the Mexicans trying to exist peacefully on their land. It is no wonder that now Mexican communities are turning to vigilantism in a last-ditch effort to preserve their threatened human habitat.

This book describes a recent search for one of the world's most spectacular birds, the world's largest woodpecker, but one which is very probably extinct. The larger and even more spectacular relative of the better-known Ivory-billed Woodpecker was an inhabitant of a part of Mexico which was never easily accessible, it is now extremely dangerous due to the drug trade. Gallagher describes how the bird was apparently still fairly common in the 1950's, but was decimated by hunting for food, by loss of habitat, and, as we had not known before, by poisoning encouraged by timber companies who considered it destructive to the mature pines which were the bird's habitat and the loggers' treasure.The author contacted many older people who could remember the Imperial Woodpecker from long ago but had seen none for many years. He found patches on forest which were located in rugged terrain inaccessible to logging trucks and which he considered possibly suitable habitat for the birds. He found a few reports from people who thought they had seen an Imperial Woodpecker. And he found a motion picture of a female Imperial Woodpecker, made in the 1950's: this motion picture can be seen on the internet.Alas, in spite of a very extensive search, some of it in very dangerous areas, Gallagher did not succeed in seeing or hearing an Imperial Woodpecker. The book is a very frank description of how greed, ignorance, political cowardice and apathy are leading to the destruction of some of nature's most wonderful creations. Similar factors, of course, have lead to the almost certain extinction of America's Ivory-billed Woodpecker (in spite of Gallagher's claim that he did find one), so we can't just blame it on the Mexicans.

When Tim Gallagher's new book "Imperial Dreams" debuted on the market, I immediately ordered my copy from Amazon.com. When the box arrived, I quickly opened it and began reading the book. By the second night, I had read it cover to cover. Wow....this book is powerfully intriguing! The Imperial Woodpecker disappeared in the early 1950's. A few years ago, a short 80 second film clip surfaced of a female Imperial Woodpecker in the Sierra Madre Occidentale in Durango. Mexico. The film as shot in 1956 (the year I was born) by Pennsylvania dentist and amateur Ornithologist William Rhein. Dr. Rhein went to the Sierra Madre in Mexico to specifically film and record the sounds of the Imperial Woodpecker. He went there in 1953, 54 and 56 and finally succeeded in 1956. He shot the only known footage in existence of the Imperial Woodpecker, a female, with a handheld 16 mm movie camera from the back of his mule. He never succeeded in obtaining any sound recordings of the Woodpecker, but his film footage is historic! Over the past few decades, stray sightings of this Woodpecker have been reported by the people who live in the mountains. Maybe, just maybe a few birds are just barely hanging on....finding a small hidden area of the mountains where they are not being harassed or killed? But, (if) a few of these birds are still clinging to existence.....could anyone get to the area in the mountains that is/was the home of this Woodpecker? In this book, Tim Gallagher travels deep into the mountains of the Sierra Madre following in the same footsteps of many famous Naturalists before him questing for this Grand Woodpecker! This once undisturbed land rich in history from the Apaches refusing to surrender with Geronimo, the million acre ranch of William Randolph Hearst which was looted by Pancho Villa, is now ruled by drug lords, kidnappers and thieves. Gallagher had terrifying encounters with drug traffickers heavily armed with AK-47s, walked into opium and marijuana fields, saw burned and burning villages and met many villagers fleeing the area. What started out as a noble quest to find a needle in a field of haystacks (or a missing jewel in the endless mountain range) turns in to a quest of survival in one of the most dangerous environments in the World! This was an amazing read! The author was spurred on by the hope that this spectacular bird might still exist and possibly be saved if only someone would travel through the mountains, talk to the people, follow-up on leads, and hopefully find a nesting pair! Mr. Gallagher travels deep into the isolated mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidentale and carries with him a treasure map dotted with sightings of the Imperial Woodpecker entrusted to him by a friend on his deathbed. What happens then?......Well, you will have to read this great book!

I've read all of Tim Gallagher' work and I'm a big fan. The book has to be his stand out. Exciting adventure but the saddest of endings. I knew before reading that this magnificent woodpecker had not been discovered but even so I hoped for a surprise happy ending.

Good book good service

Good read.

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