Conservation Resources

Posted: 19-Mar-2009; Updated: 08-Apr-2009

Restoring wetlands for bog turtles and other wildlife

Federally threatened bog turtles (Glyptemys (=Clemmys) muhlenbergii ) need fens, wet meadows and other shallow-water wetlands, but this habitat is disappearing from the Northeast. Landowners interested in converting overgrown thickets into sunny, open wetlands can find guidance in a new CCI publication: Restoring Your Wetlands for Bog Turtles and Other Wildlife: An Introduction for Landowners [PDF].

Illustrated with colorful photos, the guide describes the restoration process—which may include carefully managed grazing—and shows butterflies, wildflowers and other species that share these wetlands with bog turtles. Landowner resources and information sources are also listed.

Online ecosystem services articles

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution explores the role of ecosystems services in conservation and resource management in its February 2009 issue. Abstracts and pdfs for the five articles, an essay and a guest editorial are all available free of charge online. This journal is published by the Ecological Society of America.

Conservation funds available for Alabama landowners

Alabama landowners can get up to 64% of cost-share funding for longleaf pine restoration and enhancement through the state’s Landowner Incentives Program. This federal grant program is made available through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with state wildlife agencies. The deadline is close—April 1—but the application process is simple: a two-page form.

LIP funds can be used toward seedlings and plantings, chemical site preparation, site-preparation burns, native grass restoration and non-native species control. As well as improving habitat for the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) and Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi) and other rare species, game animals like wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) also benefit.

For a LIP application, contact Traci George at (334) 353-0503, or Traci.George@dcnr.alabama.gov. For more information about LIP visit www.outdooralabama.com/research-mgmt/landowner/lip/.