Kiley BriggsViews:
This spring, as we gear up for another round of outreach to help landowners—especially farmers—enroll in conservation programs that restore Wood Turtle habitat, we’ve also been reflecting on past efforts. In 2022–2023, through a partnership with the Connecticut River Conservancy, we conducted similar outreach across parts of northern New England. Even today, that work is still paying off, with new habitat restoration projects getting underway because of that earlier outreach.
Our outreach focused on some of the highest-priority Wood Turtle stream systems within parts of the Connecticut River basin. We targeted farm fields adjacent to these streams where habitat restoration could have the greatest impact. We were especially interested in farm fields lacking riparian buffers where mowing occurs right up against a streambank. If I needed to pick only a single type of Wood Turtle conservation and just do that from now on, it would be to create and expand riparian buffers.
Riparian buffers are strips of land between streams and farm fields, often planted with native trees and shrubs where heavy machinery is prohibited. They provide many benefits, including reducing erosion, filtering fertilizers before they reach waterways, and improving water quality. For Wood Turtles, however, their greatest value is providing safe habitat for foraging on land near streams. Although the recommended buffer width for Wood Turtles is 300–1,000 feet, any buffer is better than none. And for Wood Turtles, the bigger the better.
Since last fall, several new riparian buffers were planted as a direct result of our 2022 outreach with the Connecticut River Conservancy. The first project is on a stream I’ve known since 2018, during one of my first seasons surveying for Wood Turtles. It did not take me long to realize the stream’s high value as Wood Turtle habitat. At every property we surveyed along that stream, we found Wood Turtles in abundance.
When we later had the opportunity to promote conservation programs, we reached out to a couple landowners with hay fields bordering the stream. One of them, Mary, applied to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which provides financial incentives for establishing riparian buffers. Mary was delighted to learn someone would actually pay her to do less work.
During one of our site visits, Mary saw her very first Wood Turtle. She already knew they lived in the stream but was surprised to learn that her meadow was just as important to the species as the stream itself.
Wood Turtles spend much of the summer on land, foraging in fields and forests. Mowing right up to the edge of a Wood Turtle stream is one of the greatest threats they face. Programs like CREP, administered by the Farm Service Agency, help balance agricultural production with conservation by compensating landowners for taking environmentally sensitive land out of production.
Because Mary isn’t a farmer herself and earns very little income from haying, enrolling 2.3 acres in CREP was an easy decision. Finding a Wood Turtle together in one of her fields may have made that decision even easier.
Last month, while Mary’s meadow was being planted with trees and shrubs, I stopped by to see whether I could find a Wood Turtle to show the planting crew. After introducing myself, it took only a couple of minutes to find the first turtle of the day—a testament to just how many Wood Turtles still inhabit that stream and meadow.
Between last fall and this spring, two additional CREP buffers resulting from our 2022 outreach were also planted. The properties are only a couple of miles apart. At one, no Wood Turtles had ever been documented. At the other, only a single turtle had ever been recorded.
At first glance, with so few Wood Turtles, it might seem like an odd place to invest in Wood Turtle conservation. But just five miles downstream is one of the strongest Wood Turtle populations in Vermont. With so few opportunities for habitat restoration within that core area, we chose to focus our outreach upstream instead.
The upstream landscape has all the ingredients needed to support a thriving Wood Turtle population—if enough habitat restoration projects can take shape. More than anything, this area needs riparian buffers, and by focusing on this area long term, it has the potential to be as valuable to Wood Turtles as the hotspot downstream.
By directing conservation outreach toward degraded habitat within and around our highest-priority Wood Turtle landscapes, we can make a meaningful difference for the species. Over time, and with enough effort, we can expand high-quality habitat and help ensure Wood Turtles remain common in these places for generations to come.
We also plan to keep the momentum going. Although the grant
that led to these projects ended in 2023, we recently launched two new
initiatives, both with support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. These new grants expand that work into additional states, bring in
new conservation partners, and broaden our focus to include other species. By
working alongside The Wetland Trust, Zoo New England, the Mid-Atlantic Center
for Herpetology and Conservation, and continuing our partnership with the
Connecticut River Conservancy, we’re expanding our outreach to new landscapes
and creating new opportunities for habitat restoration. This work is just beginning, and we’re eager to see what these new partnerships make possible.
