WTOP (Washington, DC) 17 July 08 Turtles to get own crossing in Md. state park
Box turtles in Greenbrier State Park will be the first in the country to benefit from a program helping them find safe passage across roads.
The federal government allocated $130,000 to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for a pilot project to build four concrete culverts, two feet in diameter, along a 1.6 mile span on Keadle Road, at the southern end of Greenbrier.
The project started in 2005 when Greenbrier park ranger Mary Jo Bartles, who lives along Keadle Road, noticed six dead turtles on the road that year.
"It appears to be a box turtle hot spot," she said.
She notified the Humane Society of the United States, which sponsored the application for the grant. Eastern box turtles are at risk because they reproduce slowly, according to HSUS.
"It's going to benefit all different kinds of wildlife," Bartles said Wednesday after the grant was announced.
Raccoons, opossums, groundhogs, rabbits, snakes, mice, voles and skunks could use the culverts, she said.
Concrete is needed because turtles likely travel using magnetic navigation and are repelled from the existing metal culverts along the road, she said. Concrete also allows more light for better navigation. Larger culverts to accommodate deer wouldn't fit in the limited space along the roadway, she said.
Bartles expects the culverts will be built in two years.
Turtles to get own crossing in Md. state park