Tina Bachmann: Landowner and Turtle Farmer

Posted: 27-May-2004; Updated: 08-Aug-2006

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Tina Bachmann (Photo: Courtesy Tina Bachmann)

Tina Bachmann was looking for good land for horses, not federally-threatened bog turtles, when she, her husband and two sons settled on an eight-acre farm in the heart of northern New Jersey's Wallkill Valley.

Nonetheless, she soon learned about bog turtles while chatting about horse feed with a neighbor, and, as an avowed animal lover who once raised box turtles and now works for a veterinarian, she was immediately interested. After state biologist Jason Tesauro visited and explained the importance of sunlight for bog turtles and how grazing animals could restore habitat on her land, she enrolled in the state bog turtle project. With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Tesauro brought goats to graze her land. Before long "it was as if they were my pets." The goats tackled the woody plants, brush and Phragmites, and last year, Bachmann acquired sheep, which specialize in pruning grasses, though neither grazer dines exclusively on its specialty.

Bachmann's animal expertise has come in handy when the project takes unexpected turns. She adopted an orphaned baby goat and now feels a little like its foster mother. And when another goat trapped itself in a tree, she was the one-woman rescue squad. "It was 7 a.m.," she says with a sigh. "No one else was home. What else could I do when I heard it cry?" She counted 1-2-3, slid a knee under the 200-pound animal and hoisted it to safety.

Although she doesn't often see the secretive bog turtles, she doesn't expect to. "They're part of nature. You protect them and leave them alone." Meanwhile, she enjoys the transformation wrought by the goats and sheep, which have turned a tangled thicket, "a bunch of weeds," into "a really nice meadow," for her horses. "And," she says with another sigh, "I've become interested in goats. I own three now."

Note: In 2004, Environmental Defense launched its Back from the Brink campaign aimed at moving 15 endangered or threatened species significantly nearer recovery with incentive programs that encourage landowners to restore and conserve habitat. The bog turtle is one of the species. Visit www.backfromthebrink.org for more information about the campaign.