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The article focuses on the efforts of Rex Hancock, a lifelong leader of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and the Citizens committee, to save the extinct ivory-billed woodpecker habitat--Rex Hancock Black Swamp Wildlife Management Area of Arkansas's Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. Rex was a country dentist and avid duck hunter who thwarted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plans to drain the black swamp and channelize the Cache and White Rivers. Rex was also serving as a volunteer member of the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) board of directors. He had a contagious passion for protecting critical waterfowl habitat near his home in Stuttgart, Arkansas. He spent countless hours organizing a coalition of 35 national and regional organizations, including NWF. With lawsuits, letters and lobbying, Rex and his citizens' committee led a successful campaign that saved the swamp. Arkansas Wildlife Federation, after the death of Rex, under the able leadership of David Carruth, continues to battle with the Army Corps to protect these beloved wetlands.