Environmentalists urge protection for wood turtle

CHARLOTTESVILLE — An environmental group is urging that the George Washington National Forest give special protection to the wood turtle, a creature that is becoming increasingly rare in Virginia.

Wild Virginia, a Charlottesville-based environmental group, is asking officials at the George Washington, which spans more than 1 million acres, to set up a "special biological area" in the forest. The designation would create regulations to protect the turtle.

Last week, the Washington-based Endangered Species Coalition, a national network of conservation and other groups, said the wood turtle is in danger of extinction. The coalition cited 10 species it says need protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, including the wood turtle.

David Hannah, the conservation director for the 300-member Wild Virginia organization, said development across the northern part of Virginia has destroyed the turtle's habitat. The turtle's southern range in North America reaches into the Northern Virginia area, including the northern section of the George Washington.

"This is our last, best chance to manage them at the southern end of their range," he said.

The George Washington is developing a management plan for the wood turtle, though no specifics or affirmation of a special biological area have been made public, Hannah said.

"A special biological area would be a big help," Hannah said. "We need to protect the wood turtle and raise their profile."

JoBeth Brown, a spokeswoman for the George Washington, said: "That's definitely an issue we're working on."

Unlike the more common box turtle, the wood turtle has a flatter shell and tends to dwell only near water. It can be found in Northern Virginia and West Virginia, and up through the Northeast and upper Midwest.

Wood turtles have been known to "climb into bushes to eat berries or stomp on the ground to draw earthworms to the surface to eat" according to the coalition's Web site.

"The Endangered Species Act is our nation's safety net for the wildlife, fish and plants at risk of disappearing forever," Tara Thornton, Northeast representative of the Endangered Species Coalition, said in a statement. "Sadly, too many species are being left without the act's protections," including the wood turtle.

The nine other species the coalition cited as needing federal protection are the Pacific walrus, a bird known as the red knot rufa, the wolverine, the gunnison sage-grouse, a type of Arctic grayling, the island marble butterfly, the boreal toad (southern Rocky Mountain population), a plant known as mason's skypilot and the great white shark.

Carlos Santos is a staff writer at Media General’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.