Well known is the fact that not everybody cares about biodiversity and the importance of restoring wildlife habitat, but I think most people do appreciate clean water, and in the case of Wood Turtles, the two things go hand in hand. Establishing and enhancing river buffers certainly benefits Wood Turtles and any other wildlife they share the landscape with, but also results in lower sediment and nutrient runoff into the water, which are linked to declining fisheries and toxic algal blooms that are a risk to human safety. Furthermore, ecologically in-tact floodplains also protect agricultural fields, infrastructure, and homes from damage caused by intense flooding. So while our mission is to conserve and restore critical habitat for imperiled reptiles and amphibians, if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, it’s not just about our flagship species such as the Wood Turtle. It’s about clean water, flood resiliency, and agricultural sustainability, to name just a few things. As conservation biologists, we usually think of things through the lens of our species and ecosystems of interest, but in order to bring more people on board with habitat restoration, it is important to highlight the connections between wildlife conservation, ecosystem services, and how it all ties back to us humans. Wood Turtles absolutely depend on clean rivers, something we all benefit from.