2018 Summer Indigo Magazine

Indigo

Issue 9• Summer 2018

The Member Magazine of The Orianne Society

magazine

A Focus on

Partnerships

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staff Christopher Jenkins Chief Executive Officer

Heidi Hall

Development Director

Houston Chandler

Longleaf Savannas Initiative Species Coordinator

A Race Against Time Photo: Mark Mandica

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Ben Stegenga

Longleaf Savannas Initiative Research Assistant

Jacob Barrett

Longleaf Savannas Initiative Field Operations

Kiley Briggs

Great Northern Forests Initiative Turtle Conservation Coordinator

Matt Moore

Longleaf Savannas Initiative Field Technician

Jonathon Bolton

Longleaf Savannas Initiative Field Technician

William Rodriguez

Photo: Oliver Parrado

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Photo: Twan Leenders

10 Hellbenders Rock

March Intensive

Conservation Communications Coordinator

Charli Palmer

Program Manager

Patty Li

Accountant

contributors

Being Greater than the Sum of our Parts

32 Wood Turtles in VT

Photo: Kiley Briggs

26

Photo: Randy Tate

JJ Apodaca Lacey Avery Hanover High School Rebecca Harris Mark Mandica Priya Nanjappa

Photo: Chris Petersen

PARC: The Power of Partnerships

6 Member Spotlight

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8 Habitat Spotlight

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44 Photos from the Field

Chris Petersen Amanda Sargent Randy Tate Dale Weiler Jen Williams Loti Woods

issue Indigo Magazine Issue 9, Summer 2018 Indigo Magazine is the member magazine of The Orianne Society and is produced, designed and edited by the staff of The Orianne Society.

The Orianne Society 11 Old Fruit Stand Lane, Tiger, GA 30576 706-224-1359 info@oriannesociety.org www.OrianneSociety.org

@OrianneSociety

Indigomagazine There are very few things any of us do alone, this is true of our personal and professional lives. The reason is that partnering with others is more effective in almost every situation. Different individuals, companies, and agencies all have different specialties. When we bring together a diverse set of skills it can often magnify the impact we have, and the impact on the conservation of reptiles and amphibians is no different.

As Orianne continues moving forward with our mission of working to conserve rare and endangered reptiles and amphibians, we do not have all the answers - none of us do. But by working together with a long list of partners, such as agencies, other nonprofits, landowners, and universities, together we can get closer to answering those questions than any of us could alone.

This volume of Indigo Magazine is dedicated to partnerships for the conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

Partnership is one of the core values that we integrate into our conservation programs. Ten years ago when I was tasked with developing a conservation program for Eastern Indigo Snakes, I lived in the Rocky Mountains and had done very little work in the Southeast.

I immediately decided to hold a conservation summit and invited a broad group of potential partners. At that first meeting, we had a room full of experts; experts in areas such as snake ecology, prescribed fire, land conservation, and captive breeding. We spent two days working through the details of how Eastern Indigo Snake populations had declined, their current status, and what a comprehensive program to conserve them would look like. This meeting is what laid the strategic approach integrated into The Orianne Society’s programs. Thus, it is fair to say that The Orianne Society was born of partnership.

We continue this tradition today. Unlike some entities that are constantly fighting

message from our

CEO

Photo: Tammi Nowak

against agencies and others, we work side by side with our government agencies.

Many of the people that were at the first retreat are still people that I talk to today, and are critical to our programs conserving Indigo Snakes. We recently developed a new program called Great Northern Forests in northeastern United States. To effectively get this program of the ground, we quickly developed partnerships with state agencies, local nonprofits, and universities and colleges.

Because of this partnership approach we were successful at hitting the ground running and are already beginning to achieve conservation success for species such as Wood Turtles.

to learn more about and support some of our partners highlighted in this volume, as they are all engaged in important work and by supporting them you are supporting us. Finally, I hope that this volume can impact you beyond these pages and the world of conservation impact you by showing you the value of working together with others to achieve common goals throughout your lives.

Chief Executive Officer The Orianne Society

As you read this volume I hope that you too can see the value in partnerships and how it takes a team to achieve large goals in conservation. I encourage you ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SUMMER ISSUE 2018 3

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A Race Against Time

The Amphibian Foundation’s efforts to save threatened species before it’s too late

by Amanda Sargent, Lacey Avery, and Mark Mandica You turn into the driveway and instantly slow down. Before driving over the one-lane wooden bridge to park, you spot the yield sign and pause to scan the white painted lines, indicating a crosswalk, for turtles. This driveway leads to the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, a 30-acre natural refuge tucked into one of Atlanta’s largest business districts. It’s easy to overlook the preserve when you race down Roswell Road, but, if you slow down enough, you might spot a turtle sunbathing in the roadside wetland.

In 2016, we moved the Amphibian Foundation into the 10,000 square-foot building that sits on the property, where we share the space with other local non-profits. Although amphibians like frogs and salamanders have existed for more than 300 million years, nearly 40 percent are disappearing—more than any other animal group. They are rapidly losing their habitats, and are vulnerable to emerging diseases that spread from species to species, devastating local and global populations. Mark and Crystal Mandica established the Amphibian Foundation to help save amphibians from extinction by leading unique conservation activities and raising awareness. We actively partner with other organizations and experts to achieve these goals.

more than 400 salamanders with metamorphosis and head-starting these species past the sensitive larval stage, where amphibians are particularly vulnerable to predation. Head-started amphibians are typically reared to late-stage larvae (salamanders) or recently metamorphosed froglets, then released.

The Foundation holds one of only two captive populations of Gopher Frogs, Georgia’s rarest frog species. Despite being protected, recent studies indicate that remaining populations continue to decline. Gopher Frogs are temporary wetland breeders, meaning they reproduce in fishless wetlands that dry out periodically throughout the year. They naturally live in the Longleaf Pine ecosystem in the southeastern coastal plain, and are only one of many remarkable species struggling to survive in a dynamic ecosystem that has been reduced to 3 percent of its original range.

Building Unique Conservation Programs

The Amphibian Foundation leads one-of-a-kind conservation research. Our Captive Breeding Program addresses the decline of four imperiled southeastern species: Gopher Frog (Lithobates capito), Frosted Flatwoods Salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum), Striped Newt (Notophthalmus perstriatus), and Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). The amphibians are raised in captivity and produce offspring for release into protected habitat at the discretion of state and federal authorities.

We’re equipped with three state-of-the-art research labs, and a recently completed Field Research Center, all located on the nature preserve.

The unique center for field research is nicknamed Metamorphosis Meadow. Metamorphosis Meadow is a private outdoor area that holds 20 aquatic mesocosms, or 320 gallon containers that mimic the natural environment under controlled conditions, including the upland habitat and ecotone. The mesocosms will also assist

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Striped Newt. Photo: Amphibian Foundation

The Amphibian Foundation works alongside partners to establish captive assurance and breeding colonies, including the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), University of Georgia, Zoo Atlanta, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS).

For 10 years, Gopher Frog metamorphs and late-stage larvae have been experimentally released into protected land in South Georgia managed by The Nature Conservancy. This experimentally released group has started to establish a population at the release site. As

Critter Camp. Photo: Mark Mandica

the site continues to be monitored, we all hope to detect more signs of establishment in the upcoming field seasons. This year, the Amphibian Foundation is prepared to produce more offspring to release into this properly managed habitat and potentially other sites in Georgia’s coastal plain.

A large part of the Foundation’s work focuses on Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders, and we are making strides towards mimicking the positive Gopher Frog efforts. The Frosted Flatwoods Salamander is also a temporary wetland breeder that lives in the Longleaf Pine ecosystem. Flatwoods Salamanders (Ambystoma cingulatum and A. bishopi) need open canopy ponds with wire grass to thrive, and this habitat disappears when naturally occurring wild fires are suppressed. Additionally, low rainfall means less water to fill the ponds holding their eggs, resulting in desiccated eggs. These habitat challenges have caused the salamander to rapidly disappear from protected lands. In fact, they’ve suffered a 90 percent population drop since 2000, placing them at imminent risk of extinction.

Indigomagazine Salamanders at Metamorphosis Meadow, and will be released into the wild in summer 2018.

Inspiring Amphibian Advocates

Inside the building, our offices and labs are lined with aquariums and reptile enclosures. It’s hard to believe this wildlife refuge, alive with mysterious, bizarre, and interesting critters, is operating in Atlanta’s urban environment. But it’s one of the best cities to connect with people, communities, and agencies to organizations and implement lasting solutions to the amphibian crisis.

We encourage the local community to get involved in amphibian conservation through two main educational initiatives: the Metro Atlanta Amphibian Monitoring Program (MAAMP) and Critter Camp. MAAMP is a volunteer-based community science program that collects data in Atlanta to assess amphibian community health and identify sites for restoration. Foundation staff train community scientists at workshops to identify Atlanta’s urban amphibian species. This moves families and individuals outside to actively monitor frogs and salamanders, where they collect vital data at more than thirty sites in their own neighborhood.

In 2017, we hosted 15 Critter Camps, a science-based summer camp that lets students explore amphibians and reptiles in a safe, hands-on approach. Campers meet more than 100 animals while Photo: Petelearning Oxford biological concepts and how to be mindful of amphibian conservation. This summer, the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC) and the US Forestry Service have sponsored a scholarship program which makes Critter Camp available to a greater diversity of Atlanta children. In addition to these initiatives, the Foundation is frequently asked to host or join local events.

For example, staff lead bio-blitzes in neighborhood parks, visit classrooms, engage visitors at festivals, speak at conferences, and teach courses at various venues.

The Foundation’s Initiatives rely on Partnerships John Jensen with a Gopher Frog. Photo: The Amphibian Foundation

Comprehensive field surveys completed in Georgia, conducted in partnership with biologists from USFWS, GA DNR, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), The Orianne Society and the US Army have identified only one wetland with a Flatwoods Salamander population since 2009. The Foundation received Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders in 2017 and 2018 as water-stressed eggs collected from Florida by FWC. We’ve successfully hatched more than 400 of these larvae in the biosecure salamander lab in Atlanta. Many of these salamanders are now thriving in Metamorphosis Meadow.

In 2017, the Amphibian Foundation joined the Striped Newt Repatriation Project. This collaborative effort, led by Ryan Means of Remote Footprints and the Coastal Plains Institute, is focused on the release and ongoing-monitoring of captive-bred Striped Newts into protected and managed habitat in the southeastern coastal plain. There are only three remaining populations of Striped Newts, and we joined zoos in Detroit, Jacksonville, Memphis, Central Florida, and Lowry Park to maintain and breed these newts in captivity. Foundation staff partnered with GA DNR and FWC to collect wild Striped Newt larvae from Fall Line Sandhills Wildlife Management Area in middle Georgia. Within a year of joining the program, we have produced healthy Striped Newt offspring. This first generation of captive-bred larvae have joined the Flatwoods

The Amphibian Foundation has received steadfast support from the amphibian community across the globe, and strongly believes its success is in these partnerships. Some of these relationships are new and continue to strengthen, while others were forged many years ago. In fact, Mark Mandica, Executive Director of the Amphibian Foundation, and Dr. Chris Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of The Orianne Society, took a herpetology course together at the University of Massachusetts twenty years ago, and now they both lead organizations that collaborate to fight for imperiled reptiles and amphibians in the southeast. The ultimate goal of this work is that the animals will no longer need our protection, but for now, they will live in the outdoor field research center, and their offspring will be released back into the wild. We, along with our partners, are putting in a lot of time, effort, and faith into this work.

Though the Foundation works mostly with amphibians, we also focus on urban issues affecting reptiles, such as road mortality and invasive species. Recently, the Amphibian Foundation, with the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chattahoochee Nature Center, Orianne Society and A.W.A.R.E, developed an Eastern Box Turtle Sanctuary. The sanctuary is for non-releasable turtles that have been rehabilitated by our passionate partners. The sanctuary is located right in front of the main building on the preserve, giving visitors more reason to slow down and check for turtles crossing the driveway. We all have an integral role to play in the fight against amphibian extinction, and we can’t do it alone.

For updates on these project and more, sign up for the Amphibian Foundation mailing list: StayInformed.amphibianfoundation.org.

ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SUMMER ISSUE 2018 5

Indigomagazine

MEMBER spotlight

by Heidi Hall

one has to get much closer to Arizona to see them in the western United States.

Then I became aware of a nearly extirpated population of California Mountain Kingsnakes on the opposite side of the Columbia River.

I had encountered one of these animals outside of its known range!

After I figured this out and reported it on the FieldHerpForum, I was contacted by some Northwest herpetologists and, in 2015, I returned to the site with a team to survey. No animals were found, however the resident who lived there reported killing a California Mountain Kingsnake accidentally with her lawnmower in 2012.

It was the realization that there is still a frontier for discovery in herpetology that re-invigorated my interest in amateur field herpetology and it still motivates me today.

Ian Garrison Great Basin Gopher Snake in Painted Hills Oregon. Photo provided by Ian Garrison

This winter we are putting the membership spotlight on Orianne member, Mr. Ian Garrison! Based out of Washington state, Ian is an avid herp enthusiast and part of the Orianne team since 2015. We caught up with Ian to talk about his passion for reptiles and amphibians – this is what we learned.

As a Young Herper.

I spent my young childhood in the “windsurfing capital of the world”, Hood River in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge in the Pacific Northwest. I could always go hike up and down the Columbia River, through the orchards, forests, and railroad tracks looking for reptiles. While I enjoyed fence lizards I was most captivated by garter snakes at first.

“Time stood still, I watched it like it was a dream.”

One significant story from when I was 8 or 9 years old was wandering into an old rotting orchard pump house in 1984 and being stunned at seeing what I thought was a coral snake crawling through the dry grass and leaf litter on the floor. Time stood still, I watched it like it was a dream, and once the tail of the animal receded from view I ran screaming back to the house to report the “coral snake!!” The incident had set my brain on fire and I never failed to tell ANYONE with ears about this encounter.

My uncle, recognizing my interest in reptiles, sent me a copy of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians.

It was full of photographs and the tri-colored snake section was the most eye catching section of the book which is why I lept at that coral snake identification. Years later I recalled the incident and found out that there are no coral snakes in Oregon and that

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Why Herps?

My primary fascination is with snakes, though I’ve never been able to adequately articulate why. With no limbs they still thrive, they can be dazzling living jewels in captivating colors/patterns, and if you can identify the harmful ones then the remaining wild animals are actually fairly easy to have interactions with compared to other kinds of animals.

Being interested in snakes lead me to The Orianne Society and in 2015 I went to Costa Rica on the first international “Places You’ve Never Herped 7” trip. I am uneasy around insects and spiders, but spending a few weeks in tropical rainforests greatly reduced my fears. I didn’t think I’d use 4 years of high school Spanish much, but chasing snakes in Central and South America has given me more practice than I imagined.

Sharing Knowledge

My wife Beth has been fearful of snakes from a few bad childhood experiences. We never really tried to address this fear directly with therapy or pressure from myself. Gradually over 7 to 9 years, if we went fishing I would look for snakes along the shoreline, if the television was turned on I would seek nature documentaries which often featured reptiles. This broke ground for me to get my first reptile pet, a Leopard Gecko who was a fantastic companion for around 11 years. I became more active in amateur field herpetology in 2014, and around the end of the year, Beth accepted the idea of getting a pet Cornsnake at the house. I think between seeing such a wide range in behaviors in wild snakes, and the much more calm and consistent behavior of a captive Cornsnake, that Beth has completely shifted her perspective about snakes. In the last few years she has walked out to rattlesnake dens with me where we’ve found 15-20 rattlesnakes a day and she handles it like a boss!

Kids in the extended family or belonging to our friends have all had positive experiences with my pet snakes or finding wild herps in the field. Just last Saturday at a “Get Intimate with the Shrub Stepp (GISS)” held by KEEN in the Yakima River Canyon, I pointed Central Washington University professor Daniel Beck at a rattlesnake found by my friend Kelly so the snake could be legally

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Desert Lake in central Washington. Photo provided by Ian Garrison

handled with its head secured inside a clear plastic tube. Many wide-eyed children and adults got to touch the live gravid female Northern Pacific Rattlesnake safely.

I also promote the fun of amateur field herpetology on my YouTube channel (look for my “Northwest Herping Outdoors” series). I like to join up with other herp photographers to use their photos (with permission) to show everyone some herps and what it’s like to be a herper. Last year at the Seattle Metro Reptile Expo somebody recognized me from my videos which felt great.

Viewership of reptile videos is a tough nut to crack but I still enjoy it.

Rica, The Orianne Society’s first international members-only trip. I became a member, however I missed the trip enrollment.

Stubbornly I still planned my trip bouncing around between a few different biological research centers (La Selva, La Tarde). Right before the trip I emailed Orianne and said “it happens I’ll just be hanging out down on the Osa penninsula” and they mentioned there was some cancellations resulting in an open trip slot which I could secure at the last minute! I had a great time meeting Dr. Spear, Dirk Stevenson, and hardcore herpers like Noah Fields, Ben Stegenga, and many others.

The members-only trips are my favorite. Especially for lawful/ ethical access to endangered Eastern Indigo Snakes. Orianne trips are well organized, they have a terrific staff, and are always a lot of fun. All of the trips included educational lectures, often from those deeply involved in conservation efforts for some remarkable animal. I’ve learned about Snake Fungal Disease on a few trips and benefitted by talking with herpers more experienced than myself.

I also feel good about donating money to Orianne having seen them in the field and talked to them about wildlife and wildlife management. Indigos have been on the decline and it’s nice that my membership money is going to research efforts, expanding

Any Favorites?

I love Gopher Snakes. They are just like Pine Snakes except I can find hundreds of them per year without breaking a sweat! They hiss loudly and put on a defensive display that resembles an angry rattlesnake but it’s mostly for show. I can drive down a 5 mile stretch of road, find 5-7 Gopher Snakes, with some ranging in behavior from calm and docile, to the occasional half-hearted hiss of irritation, to being extremely worked up.

What’s on your “to find” list?

Hognose snakes (any kind), cool localities of snakes like blue phase Oregon Red-spotted Garters, any out of range California Mountain Kingsnake, Arizona Mountain Kingsnake, Ground Snake, Common Kingsnake, or Western Coachwhip to make a significant report/file for a range extension, and Desert Striped Whipsnakes, which in Washington are seldom reported.

Orianne Involvement

I’ve done Places You’ve Never Herped 7, 8, and 9 (Costa Rica, South GA, and North Carolina) and Indigo Days on the Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve in South GA. Seeing an Eastern Indigo Snake was high on my list for years, and I attended Places You’ve Never Herped 8 at the preserve not knowing that June was not the best time of year to find them (though I did see my first Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake which was fantastic). In December of 2017 I attended an Indigo Days event and had an opportunity to film and see these endangered wild animals for the first time. I really appreciate that The Orianne Society gives its members a chance to experience Eastern Indigos legally and ethically. It was well worth the trip from Seattle to South Georgia. The Costa Rica trip was also a remarkable time!

This was my first time herping with a large group of 40 strangers who moved as a swarm.

Why are you an Orianne Member?

In December of 2015 I was burned out from work and took a month off to spend it all traveling somewhere to herp. As I asked online for suggestions on where to go, one Orianne member responded by mentioning the Places You’ve Never Herped 7 survey in Costa Columbia River vantage in Washington. Photo provided by Ian Garrison

Interacting with a rattlesnake. Photo: Dan Beck

conservation land, publication/marketing to increase awareness, and organizing employees and resources under the Orianne banner to protect Indigos, Longleaf Pine, Gopher Tortoises, sandhills, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Spotted Turtles - all of these remarkable iconic animals/habitat from the American southeast.

Also as a videographer/reptile enthusiast/IT professional, I appreciate how The Orianne Society engages with various social media platforms. In particular I especially enjoy the “Fieldnotes” videos on The Orianne Society’s YouTube channel. This series is dense with information and is some excellent educational material. This also benefits non-Orianne members, I think it’s vastly beneficial and should be promoted more. Most herpers don’t make videos that are this good.

Well Ian, from all of our staff, we thank you for your time and dedication to reptile and amphibian conservation and hope to have you on our team long into the future. P.S. Bring Beth with you to the next members event!

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Indigomagazine

Species Spotlight: The Armored Giants of the Seychelles

by Christopher Jenkins

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Chris with an Aldabra Tortoise. Photo provided by Chris Jenkins

I had never been to the Seychelle Islands or anywhere in Africa for that matter. But I had always heard that the Seychelles were Africa’s tropical paradise, much like our Hawaiian or Caribbean Islands.

The Seychelles lived up to this reputation, I found myself among a series of islands with tropical rainforest that were surrounded by diverse coral reefs. There were very few people on the islands and the largest city reminded me of a large town here in the United States. This was fitting, given that people arrived to these islands very late as compared to many around the world. While in the Seychelles, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a couple botanists and learned that most of the trees and plants I saw on the islands were exotic-invasive species. So despite its undeveloped lush rainforest appearance, the forest was much different than it would have been before humans first came to the islands. Similarly, the stories of the marine resources were incredible including stories of whale sharks and extensive coral reefs. But these resources had also been heavily impacted and it was estimated that over half of the reefs had been bleached in recent years.

I was in the Seychelles to see wildlife and specifically one species of wildlife, the Aldabra Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantean). The greatest experience I had with these the tortoises in the wild was visiting a small island called Fregate. I remember going to my villa to rest in the heat of the day and while there a rain storm cooled off the landscape. Then as I walked out the back door of the villa there were tortoises everywhere grazing. The next day we hiked across the island to some remote tortoise turfs and saw hundreds of tortoises along the way. Wallowing in shallow pools, a female just finishing covering her eggs, and even heard the bellowing of a male breeding a female which we quickly moved in on and were able to observe. As we walked out of the forest and onto the tortoise turf, the scene was one of the greatest wildlife spectacles I have ever experienced. Grassy areas interspersed in a matrix of rock,

Aldabra Tortoise. Photo: Chris Jenkins

the waves exploding into the air as they crashed into the rocky shoreline, the Indian Ocean as far as you can see, and tortoises everywhere. It was truly a once in a life time experience that I encourage everyone to pursue.

There are very few places you can have that type of experience as the tortoise has been extirpated from most of the islands. I was visiting with a group of partners trying to determine if we could restore the tortoises. There seems to be so much potential; hundreds of tortoises in captivity and many islands that once had wild populations that could likely support them today. Without giving too much away, this team will soon be launching an effort to restore this armored giant across the Seychelles.

The Seychelles. Photo: Chris Jenkins

ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SUMMER ISSUE 2018 9

Hellbenders Rock

Indigomagazine

by Loti Woods and Dale Weiler

How do you get instant joy? Just look outside. In your backyard, out your apartment window, on a hike. Are lightning bugs flashing their early summer arrival? Birds building a nest? A frog croaking in the night? Or maybe a Hellbender lurking under a rock in the stream you just crossed on your hike. A what?

That’s the reaction we had when we first heard of Hellbenders. A hell what? And come to find out, most of our friends didn’t know about Hellbenders (also called snot otters) until…

But let’s back up to the very beginning of the story. We had just gotten married after a whirlwind engagement of 8 days in 2016. We were both in our 60’s (so it is never too late!) and trying to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives. Sharing a common passion for nature and wildlife, we had the idea of using Dale’s art to bring public awareness to the frightening decline of so many species, especially amphibians.

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Indigomagazine A Facebook post of a beautiful North Carolina stream with piles of rocks artistically placed on a stream bed caught our attention. We thought “how cool and very zen.” Then the first comment appeared. “Do you know if you move rocks in a stream you could be killing a Hellbender”. Then the second comment was posted about Hellbenders with a link to a documentary called “The Last Dragon”. Fascinated, we watched the video and wanted to learn more about these prehistoric looking creatures. Come to find out, they are right in our backyard, in our Western North Carolina streams where the water is clear and fast running. And if you move a rock, which might be the roof of their home, they could potentially die since Hellbenders can live under the same rock for 30 years. Oh my! Rocks piled in a stream suddenly represented the potential headstones of a Hellbender graveyard. These rock piles, come to find out, were not only not cool, but downright sinister.

Why had we never heard of Hellbenders before? Being the largest aquatic salamander in the United States, reaching lengths of over 2 feet, you would think everyone would know about them. Living in streams from New York to Alabama, they are endemic to the Eastern United States. Armed with a little knowledge, we started researching them.

So what exactly does a Hellbender look like? To us, it is one beautifully unattractive creature. Resembling a flounder with legs, it is very flat ( measuring only 2” high), which allows it to slide under shallow rock shelves to create its home. Once it finds its home, it rarely moves unless forced. They eat mainly crawfish with a few small fish and insects thrown into the menu. And since they breathe through their skin, Hellbenders are very susceptible to water pollution.

A Hellbender lazing in its stream. Photo: Twan Leenders, RTPI.org

ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SUMMER ISSUE 2018 11

Indigomagazine wan o: T t o Ph der. lben l e H The

almost 15 years that had not revealed its contents to me. It was a 400-pound piece of Colorado alabaster with a brownish coloration and wonderful white, cream and tan veining. Once I knew what I was looking for I could literally see a Hellbender tucking its head out from inside one corner of the stone.”

Now that we had an idea of what a Hellbender looked like, we set out to see a live one. But where would we find one?

Well, the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville has a live one and is the very first one we met. He (and yes, it is a he) lives in a very unique tank that you can lay underneath and get a close-up view of his belly and feet. Now that is cool. The Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, New York, where Dale just happened to be having a sculpture show, had 2 live Hellbenders. And then a visit to the North Carolina Zoo showed us even more Hellbenders. They seemed to be everywhere we turned.

We were now officially in love with these magnificent amphibians and of course, Dale, being a stone sculptor of wildlife, wanted to memorialize one. As Dale says “Upon learning about the Hellbender, I wanted to see if I might have one needing to be freed from the stone stash in my studio. It just so happened I did! I had been holding a piece of stone for

Now that Dale saw the Hellbender inside the stone, he got to work. “It took me over four months to complete the sculpture. Having no familiarity with this species, I needed to do some serious homework to understand the Hellbender’s anatomy and personality. I won’t begin a piece unless I am intimately familiar with the subject matter. To create a sculpture in stone, you need to be forever mindful of only subtracting that material which needs to be removed. There are no second chances or do-overs. Once the stone is taken away, there’s no putting it back, so there’s no room for error. It’s like a high wire act while operating heavy equipment.”

As Dale carved, we took pictures of the progress and posted them on social media.

The more we posted, the more interested folks got in this giant salamander. We were thrilled so many people loved the slimy creatures as much as us!

Once the Hellbender was completed, we named it “Hellbender’s Rock”. How appropriate!

Then we began looking at possible places for

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.org TPI R , s r nde Lee

it to reside.

You don’t just put a 400-pound sculpture of a Hellbender on your coffee table. And you can’t be too careful about selecting the perfect home for such an extraordinary creature. We both felt that a public venue where children and adults could learn more about Hellbenders would be the most suitable. The more people made aware of this reclusive and misunderstood animal and the environmental pressures it was under, the better the chance for its survival.

We had already partnered with the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro on some wildlife conservation opportunities, so they were a logical choice for “Hellbender’s Rock”. The Curator of Amphibians, Dustin Smith, was generous enough to give us a “behind the scene” view of their Hellbender habitat and also enlighten us to the research work the zoo is doing help the species flourish, specifically in North Carolina. The zoo is one of the several organizations involved in creating habitat in the form of prefab housing (nest boxes) for these creatures. They have assisted in the design and fabrication of concrete boxes that mimic the natural stone structures in which Hellbenders typically live and can be placed in streams and rivers to give them additional housing options. How cool is that!

We soon began discussions with the zoo and started brainstorming the best way to use Dale’s sculpture to reach and teach the broadest audience. The zoo already had a small Hellbender exhibit but you couldn’t really see the giant salamanders since they hide under rocks. Hmm. What if the sculpture was used as part of a newly renovated exhibit to include native fish, Hellbenders and information about Hellbenders? What a concept!

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A stream in Pisgah Forest with rock piles. Photo: Corrie Woods

So we donated the sculpture to the zoo and fast forward 9 months later, the new exhibit is open to the public. You can actually touch the sculpture, listen to “The Last Dragon” video, use a touchtone screen to learn more about salamanders and see the Hellbenders and fish swimming in the tank (when the Hellbenders are not hiding). The collaborative effort between us, the zookeepers, curators, and the exhibit builders ultimately culminated in an amazing new habitat for these aquatic creatures and a much more enlightening and engaging glimpse into their world.

There is even a Hellbender nest box right in the front of the aquarium to show how hellbenders might use it for habitat. The day the exhibit opened, a Hellbender was both in the nest box and actively swimming around, putting on quite a show for all the visitors.

It warmed our heart to hear one little girl say “Daddy, what is that?” Watching her point to the swimming Hellbender and then watch her feel and explore the contours of the Hellbender sculpture made our day. It just doesn’t get much better! And this was direct affirmation art, especially sculpture,

can help teach us about wildlife by being able to physically touch a rendering of the actual animal.

But how do we save and protect them?

Considered Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature which evaluates animals and plant species for their conservation status, Hellbender populations have plummeted in the last few years. Since they have been around for about 65 million years, give or take a few million years, it would be a tragedy to lose

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A Hellbender on rocks. Photo: Twan Leenders, RTPI.org

them. While they are very reclusive, they are like the canary in the coal mine. When the Hellbender populations decline, it is a warning something may be wrong with the water quality in the stream. Sedimentation, pollution, habitat destruction (including moving rocks in a stream) all have taken their toll on the Hellbender populations. When you see a live one, you know the stream is healthy. As more and more folks learn about them and want to protect them, we hope their populations will increase.

partnering with other folks can make a big difference in conserving our wildlife.

So if you are hiking near or through a stream, remember there may be a giant salamander hiding under the rocks. Moving or disturbing their rock could kill it or other aquatic creatures living in the stream. But at least we now know not to move rocks and we can educate others.

The power of our voice and the power of

So what’s in your backyard? What brings you joy just by looking out the window or going for a walk?

There are so many cool things right in our/ your backyard if we just take the time to stop, listen, observe and learn. If we are curious about the animals with which we coexist and learn how we can help protect them, we think the world will be a better place for generations to come. And if just one Hellbender is helped by a piece of art, in this case, Dale’s sculpture, then we have achieved success.

the only wild population on our planet in Eastern North Carolina. Hellbenders, red wolves and … Only time will tell what is next on our horizon for partnering art with wildlife conservation. And we can’t wait.

To learn more about Hellbenders, red wolves and other endangered and vulnerable critters, follow us at weilerwoodsforwildlife.com

Next up for us? Red wolves, the most endangered canid in the world. And guess where they live? Right in our backyard, with

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Dale beginning work. Photo: Loti Woods

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Photo: Ron Grunwald

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Checking out the progress on the Hellbender Rock. Photo: Loti Woods

Dale in front of the new Hellbender exhibit at the North Carolina Zoo with his sculpture.

Photo: Loti Woods

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Loti Woods and Dale Weiler.

Photo provided by Loti Woods

The Hellbender Rock. Photo: Loti Woods

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March Intensive

by Hanover High School Students: Christo Dragnev Daria Gundermann Matt Hink Gary Li Sara Linsey Amelia McNamara Oliver Parrado Sam Seelig Eli Silovich Julia Stahl

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Indigomagazine March Intensive, an innovative series of programs offered by Hanover High School, in Hanover, New Hampshire, provides students with an opportunity to participate in innovative educational mini-courses, at home and abroad. Our group of nine adventurous juniors and one sophomore, all would-be naturalists, studied amphibians and reptiles in southeast Georgia, guests of The Orianne Society, the largest herpetological conservation organization in the world. Chaperoned

by Jeannie Kornfeld, a chemistry and environmental science teacher at the high school, and Ted Levin, a nature writer, we immersed ourselves in rural Georgia’s pinelands and swamps, and visited the convoluted Georgia coastline.

Led by Dr. Chris Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of the Orianne Society, we first visited a Longleaf Pine forest close to our dormitory. These pine woodlands are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in North America; next to Hawaii they shelter the largest number of federally endangered and threatened species in the United States. Historically, this unique ecosystem stretched from south Virginia to southeast Texas, throughout the sandy Coastal Plain. Born of fire, Longleaf Pines evolved in a lightning charged landscape where wildfires burned (and maintained) the southern third of Georgia (as well as much of the Coastal Plains). Wildfires once swept across the Coastal Plain, nearly uninterrupted. Rivers formed the only natural firebreaks. Now, roads, farms, and towns impede the spread of fire and overzealous firefighters, driven by a misguided understanding of the importance of wildfire, extinguish them at every opportunity. Collectively, within the entirety of the emasculated longleaf pineries only two percent of old growth remains. Every three to five years, however, wildfires still burn rural Georgia. Triggered by lightning strikes and fed by brittle Wiregrass, a fire-dependent native grass that serves as a woodland fuse, fire eliminates fire intolerant trees and shrubs, instead favoring fire-tolerant pines.

Dr. Jenkins introduced us to several species of reptiles that are emblematic of a healthy Longleaf Pine ecosystem. The Gopher Tortoise, a keystone species, digs long, deep burrows in the sandy soil, which offer relief from harsh winter and summer weather and sanctuary from both fire and predators. In these burrows, winter temperatures are warmer than that of the ambient outdoor temperature, summer temperatures cooler. Consequently, many different species of animals seek refuge in tortoise burrows to escape frigid winter and scorching summer weather. Like beaver in the Northeast and alligators in the Everglades, Gopher Tortoises are “ecosystem engineers;” they manipulate their environment, generously, but inadvertently, creating habitats for other species.

In hopes of seeing a tortoise in its burrow, we inserted a camera with LED lights on the end of a long cable attached to a monitor. We all watched the screen in awe at the insects crawling along the walls of the cave as the camera moved along the burrow, and finally got to see a tortoise at the end of the roughly twenty foot long tunnel.

Next, Dr. Jenkins introduced us to both an Indigo Snake and a Pine Snake. The latter a large, sandytan, grey-colored snake; the former a dark, thick snake, the largest snake in North America. Both species depend on tortoise burrows, spending much of there lives underground. Constrictors, pine snakes feed on rodents, wrapping their victims in ever-tightening coils that either suffocate prey or lower blood its pressure to the point of heart failure. The Indigo Snake, which has a home range of more than six square miles—the most widely ranging snake on the continent—has long teeth and extreme biting power; it eats anything it can over power, including venomous snakes.

Both snakes’ slow speed and long length make crossing roadways, passing through the gauntlet of automobiles difficult, which has contributed to the decline of their population. Both the Indigo Snake, a federally threatened species, and the Pine Snake are dependent on tortoise burrows.

Thankless, Indigo Snakes sometimes eat the tortoise eggs and hatchlings.

Spotted Turtle. Photo: Oliver Parrado

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Indigomagazine The last animal that Dr. Jenkins showed us was the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, the largest venomous snake in North America.

Ben, another scientist working at The Orianne Society, handled the snake with extreme caution. When approached, the snake’s rattle sounded an insect-like warning. Contrary to popular belief, the snake was scared, not angry.

The rattle was made of segments composed of keratin, the hard protein found in hair, claws, and fingernails, and toenails. Because healthy rattlesnakes only shed on average 1.5 times per year, adding a new rattle segment each shed, when not broken off, a rattle indicates a rough estimation of the snake’s age. Our diamondback, with ten unbroken segments, was four or five years old and nearly four feet long. Not yet full grown, an Eastern Diamondback may reach eight feet in length.

The biologically diverse Longleaf Pine system depends on fire. The foundation of this ecosystem rests on the sandy soil, a reminder that the ocean once covered this area as recently as fifteen thousand years ago. To help us better understand the importance of fire, we met with a fire ecologist named Brannon.

He uses prescribed fires to help reestablish Longleaf Pine ecosystems. Historically, lightning strikes ignited fires across Longleaf ecosystems (Native Americans also lit fires to increase forage for deer and elk). Wildfires burned through Longleaf Pine forests, allowing seeds to germinate and grow without competition. Heat generated by a fire causes the needles to close around the terminal bud

Meeting the Spotted Turtle. Photo: Oliver Parrado

(apical meristem), which protects it from heat.

Although, some needles may scorch, seedlings survive. Brannon then left us stunned when he launched little plastic balls of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) that were injected with ethylene glycol (antifreeze) shot from a pressurized gun. Each ball flew into and ignited a bed of wiregrass. Brannon’s so-called “dragon eggs” cocktail chemically combusted, erupting into flames. Brannon uses this technique to burn barrier islands, igniting fires from the relative safety of a boat.

The day after visiting Longleaf forests, we traveled to a coastal freshwater wetland, which flowed into an estuarial ecosystem. In the United States, freshwater wetlands have been devastated; approximately fifty percent have

Checking a Spotted Turtle trap. Photo: Oliver Parrado

been destroyed by human activity. Turtles are the most endangered group of vertebrates on the planet. Our next quarry, Spotted Turtles are dependent on the quality of freshwater wetlands. For this reason, The Orianne Society studies turtles in the Southeastern and Northeastern U.S. to determine how to effectively protect them.

On the Georgia Coastal Plain, Orianne studies the Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata), a black turtle speckled with yellow and orange dots like constellations in the night sky. Spotted Turtles depend on wetlands choked with vegetation. The upper shell called the carapace is five inches long, making them among the smallest turtles in North America. Spotted Turtles are very long lived, with lifespans sometimes exceeding eighty years. Biologists are concerned that global climate change may disrupt the ratio of male and female spotted turtles, along with many other turtle species, because their sexes are “temperature dependent”; eggs incubating at warmer temperatures develop into females, cooler temperatures yield males. As global temperatures increase, biologists theorize that populations will skew more toward females, impacting reproductive success.

Until Orianne began studying them five years ago, very little was known about Georgia’s Spotted Turtles. We used modified crab traps baited with oily sardines to catch the turtles.

Captured turtles were identified using a system of notches on their shells; new turtles had their shells notched. Then, we took

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Prescribed fire. Photo: Oliver Parrado

Indigomagazine measurements to determine how much each turtle had changed since the last time it was caught. New turtles were measured so when recaptured, future field biologists will know how much they’ve grown and how far they’ve ranged from the original capture site.

At the site we visited, about eighty different adult turtles have been identified; juveniles, however, are more elusive. Consequently, Orianne has placed radio trackers on females to attempt to identify nesting locations and behavior, and to locate hatchlings. We were told that if a female lost weight since its previous measurement, it was very likely she laid a clutch of eggs. A hatchling Spotted Turtle is quarter-size, making it susceptible to many predators including raccoons, otters, American Bullfrogs, Pig Frogs, and a variety of snakes. Further, their small size, coupled with their beautiful coloration make Spotted Turtles heavily desirable on the black market pet trade, which is why the GPS coordinates of their territories are not made public.

After looking for Spotted Turtles in the fresh water wetland, we drove to and hiked through an old growth cypress stand. Because rot-resistant cypress wood is coveted for building, old growth cypress stands are very rare. Flood-tolerant cypress dominate this wetland, a flood plain of the Altamaha River. Their unique root system connects the underwater tree root to air through an emergent structure called a “knee.” Cypress knees stabilize the tree in soft, shifting mud and provide oxygen for the submerged roots (Wetland soils are saturated and devoid of oxygen.) Cypress trees provide habitat for birds and many other organisms, including Rat Snakes, wood storks, and bald eagles. In our quest to see reptiles and amphibians, we walked through the saturated forest, forded sloughs, and dug under fallen trees, peeling off bark. We found two rough Earth Snakes, a Carolina Anole (a lizard that changes color from brown to green), a Southern Five-lined Skink, a small lizard with a striped, bluish tail, a Cricket Frog, and Southern Toad. The

most common amphibian we encountered was the Marbled Salamander, a fall breeding salamander that looks like a cream and black kitchen countertop. Looking at these species helped us realize the variety of animals that depend on old growth cypress and all the micro-ecosystems nestled inside it.

On the surface both the old growth cypress swamp and Spotted Turtle habitats appear different. Turtle habitat was bright green, choked with aquatic plant life such as duckweed and algae, a dense tangle of vegetation. In contrast, there was much less vegetation in the cypress grove. The ground was firmer than what we experienced in the boot-sucking, knee-deep mud of the turtle habitat. However, the hydrology of the two habitats is similar in that both have saturated soil; the very definition of a wetland.

The old-growth cypress and Longleaf Pine trees also exhibited interesting similarities and differences. Both are long lived, reproduce in

Eastern Gartersnake - Noah Fields

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Newt Soup - Photo: Hollis Burbank-Hammarlund

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“Longleaf Pine, however, are dependent on fire while Cypress are dependent on floods”

Measuring a Spotted Turtle. Photo: Oliver Parrado

their own shade, and inhabit relatively stable communities. Longleaf Pine, however, are dependent on fire while cypress are dependent on floods to maintain the community where they thrive.

On the last day, we ventured to the Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge in Townsend, Georgia.

The Georgia coast, located only a few miles inland of the Atlantic Bight is among the least developed coastal territories in the United States. Harris Neck is an estuarian refuge, consisting primarily of tall and short cord-grass ecosystems: similar to the cypress trees in their ability to survive in saturated, unoxygenated soil.

The estuary—an ecotone that connects the freshwater and saltwater worlds—shelters a litany of diverse flora and fauna. Due to Georgia’s topography, undeveloped coastline, relatively pristine saltwater marshes, and proximity to the Tropic of Cancer, the estuary also serves as a refuge for migratory and nesting birds, including wood stork, red knots, and piping plover. Ted Levin explained there is a unique symbiotic relationship between the Wood Stork and American Alligator; the alligator will rest beneath the nests of the wood stork and deter potential predators such

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Photo: Oliver Parrado

as a opossum or a raccoon from swimming to the island to predate the eggs and hatchlings, and will, in return, feed on the wood stork young that fall from the nest or land on the surface of the water on their first flight out of the nest.

The Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge is also important biologically because it conserves biomes critical to many endangered species.

Due to mass destruction of estuaries and shoreline development, many species such as the Diamondback Terrapin (America’s only estuarine turtle), have found survival challenging. With refuges like Harris Neck secure from development, and with support from conservation organizations and the public, many of estuary-dependent species have begun to return from the brink of extinction. The refuge also provides sanctuary for wading birds like the great egret and blackcrown night heron, and resident songbirds like Carolina Wrens and Carolina Chickadees and migratory songbirds like the Yellow-rumped and the Parula Warblers, all of which we had the pleasure to hear and observe.

From the observation dock above the salt marsh to the raised observation ridge overlooking the freshwater marshes, the

region was a riot of activity: flocks of birds, both nesting and migratory, preened and, fed (both in the air: tree swallows: or in the water: egrets and herons). After observing little Blue Herons, Hooded Mergansers, Bluewinged Teal, Common Moorhens, hundreds of swooping Tree Swallows and a few Barn Swallows, we left the Harris Neck Refuge and headed to Jekyll Island and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, a forty-five minute drive. Before crossing onto the barrier island, we stopped to see a turtle excluder device (TED), outfitted on shrimping boats to prevent sea turtles from being caught in the shrimp nets.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center is “an educational center devoted to the study, care and rehabilitation of sea turtles and their environment.” The center is situated on the mouth of Altamaha River—the same river that floods the old-growth cypress wetland we visited the day prior; in fact, we were in the watershed of the Altamaha for the entire trip.

While turtle nest protection is focused around Jekyll Island, the patients in the hospital are ‘adopted’ from the entirety of the 100-mile long Georgia ocean coastline.

Preserving turtle populations is important beyond maintaining individuals; it’s also

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beneficial for aquatic ecosystems as a whole.

Because sea turtles are keystone species (like the Gopher Tortoise), they regulate many other species populations by serving as both an apex predator and providing eggs and hatchlings to a score of other predators. Leatherback Turtles feed on jellyfish, Hawksbills on sponges, Greens on sea grass, and Loggerheads on crustaceans. Removing sea turtles from coastal waters could potentially lead to a cascade of extinctions, and possible ecosystem collapse.

We learned that one way the public could reduce disruption of sea turtle reproduction is to use red lights along the coastline rather than white lights. White lights confuse hatchling turtles, luring away them away rather than toward the ocean. Secondly, driving slowly during the terrapin-breeding season could drastically reduce the number of road-killed female terrapins traveling from the salt marsh to higher, sandy ground to lay their eggs.

After watching a program lead by an employee at the turtle center that discussed the injuries, treatments, and feeding patterns of the current turtle patients, most of whom were injured by human activity, our group returned to the road to travel back home to The Orianne Society’s Indigo Snake Preserve.

Georgia coastline to catch a glimpse of the bio-diverse saltwater marshes of Jekyll Island, we learned why it is so important to protect the reptiles and amphibians that live on Earth.

This March Intensive left us all with a new found respect for the importance of protecting native ecosystems and the intricate web of life they support. We learned of the important work herpetologists do to determine how we can best preserve these unique species, as reptiles and amphibians play a surprisingly significant role in the ecosystems they inhabit.

The entire trip was something that could only be experienced first-hand. From the first day of summoning alligators from their gator holes, to trudging through wetlands in thighhigh water in search of rare and beautiful Spotted Turtles, and finally traveling to the

2017 March Intensive Students. Photo provided by Jeannie Kornfeld

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Weighing a Spotted Turtle.

Photo: Oliver Parrado

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Being Greater than the Sum of our Parts

by Randy Tate Fort Stewart/Altamaha Partnership Coordinator, The Longleaf Alliance

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The Altamaha River. Photo: Randy Tate

As the Director of Science and Stewardship for The Nature Conservancy in Georgia, I was very fortunate to be included in the early days of planning for what became The Orianne Society. I attended one of the round table sessions in 2007 at the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway that brought everyone together who worked with the Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon cooperi) or who worked in conservation in Georgia, Alabama or Florida. It was apparent very early on that Dr. Chris Jenkins and the folks with him were serious about doing something big to help save this iconic snake of the Southeast US. After these initial meetings in 2008, a smaller group of conservationists and biologists spent three days visiting potential sites along the Altamaha River, and beyond, that would both protect a population of Indigo Snakes and give the new organization a base of operations. The final stop on the tour was Mopani, a private property along the Little Ocmulgee River in Telfair County. There the group found its first Eastern Indigo Snake, and the rest is history. Mopani was purchased by the philanthropist backing the fledgling organization, and it later became the Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve.

Fast forward five years, and I was starting my current position with the Longleaf Alliance (LLA). During those years, The Orianne Society had grown and broadened its focus to include the Longleaf Pine habitat Eastern Indigo Snakes called home, as well as the wetlands where they hunt.

A strong program of land management had been built with a wise emphasis on prescribed burning and native groundcover restoration. The summer of 2013 saw the initiation of the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Restoration Partnership, coordinated by The Longleaf Alliance. The Orianne Society

Orianne Society applying prescribed fire. Photo: Randy Tate

was a founding member of the partnership, and a strong and productive cooperative between the two organizations took off.

The history of the LLA is one of growth through partnerships. Since Dr. Rhett Johnson and Dr. Dean Gjerstad, both Auburn University Forestry professors, founded the LLA in 1995, it has grown steadily and connected with numerous partners across the range of Longleaf Pine. Our partners include many private landowners and non-profit conservation organizations, state forestry and wildlife departments, nurseries and forest industry groups, universities and field stations, as well as federal wildlife and agricultural agencies. Both Rhett and Dean knew that to save the Longleaf ecosystem at a rangewide scale, many people had to be involved. This proves true for almost any conservation action at sufficient scale; we’re all interconnected and in this together. As the father of modern Ecology, Dr. Eugene Odum said, “The ecosystem is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The LLA was established in 1995 when it became apparent that the interest in the Longleaf ecosystem and the tree itself was growing rapidly, but there wasn’t an outlet available for ecologists, foresters, wildlife biologists, land owners, and land managers seeking information or a means to distribute information they did know. A growing body of anecdotal information, personal experience, and scientific data was being passed on fitfully, and many groups were not being reached. The LLA was therefore created with the express purpose of coordinating a partnership between private landowners, forest industries, state and federal agencies, conservation groups, researchers, and other enthusiasts interested in managing and restoring Longleaf Pine forests

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Indigomagazine Longleaf Restoration Initiative (ALRI), a rangewide plan to save Longleaf Pine.

Longleaf Academy. Photo: Randy Tate

for their ecological and economic benefits. It was essentially formed to connect people.

To accomplish our mission, the LLA works throughout the range of Longleaf Pine to emphasize the ecological, economic, social, and historic importance of this once vast ecosystem. (When European settlers arrived, the Longleaf ecosystem was the most wide-ranging ecosystem in North America dominated by a single tree species!) Since its original formation in 1995, the LLA has used outreach, education, research, direct involvement, and hands-on experience to develop and provide the best available information and support in an unbiased manner to landowners, managers, policy makers, educators, and the public. And, almost always, these actions have included partners.

Nowhere is it more apparent than in natural resource conservation and management that partnerships are necessary to achieve accomplishments at scale. The pooling and sharing of resources of all types allows us to do more. It also allows us to touch more people as each different organization and agency often has its own constituencies.

Conservation of both terrestrial and wetlands habitats is also where we see the importance of interconnectivity. Dr. Whit Gibbons (University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Lab) wrote in a 2003 paper, “long-term research on isolated wetlands reveals that two

terrestrial habitats contiguous with the wetland—the terrestrial periphery and terrestrial corridors that connect isolated wetlands—are vital for much of the animal community.” The uplands are connected to the wetlands, and that interconnectivity is vital to preserve and manage over time. It is often in these transitional environments between uplands and wetlands, or ecotones, where you find rare species and often species richness.

In April of 2013, I began my career with The LLA as the Partnership Coordinator for the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Restoration Partnership. In late July 2013, an inaugural partnership meeting was held at the Mary Kahrs Warnell Forest Education Center in Guyton, GA, bringing together multiple partners interested in conserving and promoting Longleaf Pine in southeast Georgia. At this meeting the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Partnership was formed; currently, the Partnership has 15 members.

Since the inaugural meeting, $1.6 million has been raised through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Longleaf Stewardship Fund (LSF) for Longleaf conservation and restoration activities within southeast Georgia.

Activities include planting Longleaf Pine on public and private lands as well as increasing prescribed burning throughout the Partnership boundary.

Prescribed fire crews for both public and private groups are supported. All of this is an outgrowth of another important partnership that produced America’s

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Seldom has there ever been a rangewide plan for the restoration of a particular forest type. But longleaf forests and woodlands, unique to the southeast US, are different. From the ALRI website: “Under the leadership of the USDA Forest Service, Department of Defense, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a Regional Working Group of diverse organizations was formed in October 2007 to develop America’s Longleaf.

The vision of the America’s Longleaf Initiative is to have functional, viable, Longleaf Pine ecosystems with the full spectrum of ecological, economic, and social values inspired through a voluntary partnership of concerned, motivated organizations and individuals,” (www.

Americaslongleaf.org).

After two years of work that included the agencies above in addition to all State Wildlife and Forestry Agencies, plus most of the non-profit conservation organizations within the range of longleaf, ALRI was produced with an ambitious goal of reaching 8 million acres of Longleaf Pine by 2025. At the time of its writing there was only an estimated 3.4 million acres of Longleaf forest types remaining. Since 2009, and aided greatly by NFWF’s LSF, 17 Local Implementation Teams (LIT) have been established across the range at Significant Geographic Areas (SGA) for Longleaf. The concept of SGAs was an important one that focused conservation efforts in a “site based” approach. “The Significant Geographic Areas approach was a first attempt to identify those areas, from a range-wide view, that should receive focused and targeted attention to achieve the conservation goals of the Conservation Plan” (www.

Americaslongleaf.org) The Fort Stewart/Altamaha LIT is anchored by Fort Stewart, home to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. While military training is its primary mission, Field trip to the Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve.

Photo: Randy Tate

Photos: Lloyd Newberry

Photos: Martha Newberry

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Indigomagazine Fort Stewart also has a complimentary conservation mission. The base has 130,668 acres of well managed Longleaf forests, where a different kind of interconnectivity is found - that of military training and conservation. It turns out that the ideal setting for the Army to train in is a very open forest.

The Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW), a federally endangered species, also thrives in very open Longleaf forests. In past years the Army, through its bombing and live fire training, inadvertently ignited fires that spread through the forest. That helped the RCW population hang on in its fire dependent Longleaf habitat at the base, whereas most populations of this woodpecker drastically declined elsewhere. These days the Army and conservationists recognize the need for frequent controlled, or prescribed, burning; as Fort Stewart has a vigorous and successful prescribed burning program on base, the RCW population is thriving.

The fire management at Fort Stewart shows yet another example of Dr. Gibbon’s principle stated above, of

Orianne and Longleaf Alliance Staff, Brannon and Carol. Photo: Randy Tate

Living with the Land

The Author with an Eastern Indigo. Photo provided by Randy Tate

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Indigomagazine the importance of terrestrial habitat to wetlands and wetland species. Fort Stewart is one of the few places left on earth where small, isolated wetlands are found imbedded in a Longleaf forest.

And, due to the extensive and regularly prescribed fires there, these wetlands are burned and provide habitat for many amphibian species, including the federally threatened Frosted Flatwoods Salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum). The Flatwoods Salamander’s breeding sites are small, isolated, cypress or tupelo “domes” in pine flatwoods. These wetlands require periodic fire to help them remain open, allowing sunlight to stimulate the grasses and forbs that are important to the salamander. Unfortunately, much of this habitat is being lost due to the misguided thought that wetlands should not burn.

The practice of putting firebreaks around isolated wetlands is all too common, leading to the degradation and loss of wetlands - and therefore many species.

And, of course another species that travels through different habitats is the Eastern Indigo Snake, a creature that helped spawn The Orianne Society. The largest snake in North America, it features jet black, almost blue scales and requires a mosaic of habitat types to complete its life cycle. This snake connects the uplands – where it often uses Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows – to wetlands – where it feeds on various wetland creatures.

As conservationists and lovers of the land we must continue to ensure connected landscapes for individual critters like Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders and Eastern Indigo Snakes as well as the larger region. A well-connected landscape is a resilient landscape. Strong broad-based partnerships, such as that between The LLA and The Orianne Society and among the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Partnership, also create institutional resilience. Both types of resilience will be required, and both, I fear, will be sorely tested in the future as we are all impacted by climate change.

Cover of the Longleaf Leader showing the partnership between organizational fire crews. Courtesy of the Longleaf Alliance

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In ecology, resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a perturbation or disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Given the predictions of climate change impacts and the current unwillingness to address the causes of climate change, building resilience is even more important. A landscape that is well connected through its uplands and wetlands and that has more than one protected example of an ecosystem is more likely to persist in the face of extreme change. Redundancy aids resilience. When it comes to landscape conservation, most always, more and bigger are actually, better.

A well-established and broad-based conservation partnership is also more likely to withstand budget cuts or impacts from societal change. As conservationists, it is up to us to maintain both landscape and institutional resilience.

As conservation partners we each bring our own specialties and focus as well as our constituencies, who may often -but don’t always - overlap. For as Dr. Odum said, “the ecosystem is greater than the sum of its parts.” By working together, we are also greater than the sum of our parts.

We must build resilience, and we must be persistent. One thing I have learned through my work in conservation is that persistence pays in time. If you are in the field of natural resource conservation and management looking for a quick win, you will often be disappointed.

The Georgia ballot measure pending this November, the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act, is a good example.

When I arrived in the state in 2000, I soon heard talk of the need for dedicated funding for conservation. And it has been consistently discussed over the last 18 years. It took a lot of dedicated people and organizations partnering together over these years - being persistent – to set up this potential pay-off.

The LLA looks forward to continuing the strong partnership we have with The Orianne Society. There is much to do to continue building resilient landscapes for the Eastern Indigo Snake, the Gopher Tortoise, the Longleaf ecosystem, and the people who depend on healthy forests as much as the critters do.

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The Wood Turtle. Photo: Kiley Briggs

Some people search for the elusive Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) for fun, others to save the species from extinction. On an unusually sweltering day in May, local “turtle wrangler,” Mark Powell and Orianne Society’s Kiley Briggs led biologists and natural resource planners from US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) on a quest to find the uncommon turtle in Vermont’s prickly, riverside scrubland.

For over 25 years, NRCS has worked with private landowners and partners to permanently protect Vermont’s working agricultural landscape from development and restore wetlands altered by agriculture. Days in the field enable NRCS staff to understand where Wood Turtles reside and target future land conservation efforts in areas the turtle will benefit the most. With The Orianne Society’s

help, NRCS staff are learning how to monitor for Wood Turtles, so that they can protect and improve targeted riparian and wetland habitat for this imperiled species.

Why should we care about Wood Turtles?

The Wood Turtle obtained its name more for the wood-like, chiseled appearance of its shell than its habitat preferences. In fact, Wood Turtles spend the majority of their long lives, sometimes 70 years or more, in a mosaic of habitat types within 1000 feet or so of clear, meandering streams and rivers. In the winter, turtles congregate in deep pools and below undercut riverbanks and tree roots.

For months they survive in almost freezing temperatures with little oxygen. In spring and summer, as temperatures warm, they emerge from hibernation to bask in the sun. During the active season, streams with fallen woody

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debris, sand and gravel bars, and adjacent forestland are attractive habitat for the turtles to forage, mate, and nest.

However, Wood Turtles are not the only species that thrive at this attractive intersection between land and water. Vermonters love it here too. Despite massive reforestation of Vermont’s landscape since the state’s

“Wood Turtles are not the only species that thrive at this attractive intersection between land and water”

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Vermont’s Elusive Wood Turtle Conservation Partnerships Protect Vermont’s Wood Turtle

by Rebecca Harris, Conservation Easement Stewardship Assistant, Eco AmeriCorps

agricultural heyday, the majority of riverside land remains fragmented by roads, agriculture, and towns. Over the past 100 years, our meandering, wild streams and rivers were constrained and dammed. Under current patterns of development, unassuming tractors, machinery, and vehicles in close proximity to river edges run over and kill turtles traveling between their river and upland habitat. Furthermore, past alteration of stream channels and the introduction of invasive species have reduced available habitat where the turtles nest and forage.

Wood Turtles are slow to mature and have low reproductive rates, thus even low levels of adult mortality can have a large impact on species’ survival. Over the past 100 years, Wood Turtles experienced population declines of approximately 50 percent. As a result, the

turtle is designated as a species of regional conservation concern in New England and a species of greatest conservation need in Vermont’s Wildlife Action Plan. Because the majority of suitable riparian habitat exists on private land, saving this rare reptile requires working with private landowners. Ultimately, protecting Wood Turtle habitat protects the riverside natural communities where Vermonters play, live, and grow food.

What are we doing about it?

NRCS and The Orianne Society demonstrate that agriculture, wildlife, and landscape scale conservation efforts can thrive together.

This year NRCS celebrates 25 years of working with landowners and partners to protect more than 4.4 million acres across the country through enrollment of private land in easements. NRCS’s Agricultural Conservation

Easement Program (ACEP) allows farmers to retain ownership of their land while also promoting land conservation. Under an easement, the landowner sells their right to develop or subdivide in exchange for financial compensation and technical assistance.

Conservation easements are used statewide to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine, private, agricultural, and riparian grounds and wetlands for wildlife and natural resources.

NRCS Wetlands Specialist Jim Eikenberry works closely with farmers in Vermont to implement ACEP Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE), which help landowners restore wetlands and riparian areas that were cleared, drained, or altered for agriculture. Since the program’s inception in Vermont in 1996, over 58 easements, compromising over 4,300 acres, have been protected in perpetuity and those

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Photo: Houston Chandler

Indigomagazine

A joint venture, NRCS and The Orianne Society visited a privately-owned Wood Turtle site to assess the property for restoration potential. Photo: Kiley Briggs

protected wetlands provide habitat for fish and wildlife, but the benefits don’t stop there.

Intact restored wetlands also improve water quality by filtering sediments and chemicals, reducing flood levels, recharging groundwater, and providing opportunities for educational, scientific, and limited recreational activities.

Conservation easements are just one tool that private landowners can employ to protect and improve habitat for wildlife such as Wood Turtles. Restoring “riparian buffers,” or vegetation within 50 to 300 feet of the river’s edge, provides diverse habitat structure for Wood Turtles and lessens the threat of machinery and vehicles. USDA Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation

Reserve Program (CRP) and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) collaborate to compensate producers for removing their riverside agricultural land from production and planting trees and shrubs to restore wildlife habitat. In partnership with NRCS, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the program has facilitated the planting of over 2,500 acres of riparian forest buffers in Vermont. Even narrow buffers can accumulate to have a significant positive impact for water quality and species protection.

Compared to easements, NRCS’s Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) partnership

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is species specific and utilizes a variety of conservation initiatives to best meet species’ needs. WLFW is known across the nation for helping Greater Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations rebound by funding diverse, science backed, species-specific protection practices on working lands. In 2016, the program expanded to include Northeast Turtles. As part of the Northeast Turtles effort, NRCS works with private landowners to find the best method, whether through easements or other conservation practices, to increase available high-quality habitat for uncommon turtles. NRCS’s State Biologist, Toby Alexander, described his excitement about the partnership’s impact in Vermont, “This turtle is considered an ‘umbrella species’ due to the

Indigomagazine variety of habitats it uses. By improving and conserving habitat for this species we will benefit a wide array of other species such as pollinators, brook trout, mussels, declining songbirds, woodcock, waterfowl, amphibians, and small and large mammals.�

The WLFW Conservation model is still in its early stages, and NRCS staff are learning how to apply targeted practices. For instance, the Vermont River Conservancy (VRC), a nonprofit dedicated to protecting exceptional shore land, is working with NRCS to enhance habitat for an existing population of Wood Turtles. Since a large proportion of Wood Turtle mortality occurs when females travel larger distances to find suitable nesting habitat, NRCS and VRC staff are exploring options to fund the enhancement of the existing nesting site by managing for invasive species, managing for young forest, and restoring the natural shape of the stream channel.

Our Partnership with The Orianne Society Since moving to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom last year, Orianne’s Kiley Briggs has been influential in facilitating partnerships for Wood Turtle conservation. While current efforts such as the VRC project are implemented on sections of river with established Wood Turtle populations, moving forward, protecting the species will require understanding where existing populations are thriving in Vermont.

The Northeast Wood Turtle Working group developed a habitat model to predict where Wood Turtles reside. Briggs is using that model as a starting point to locate potential Wood Turtle populations and then conducting on the ground surveys to verify the habitat, determine if Wood Turtles are present, and assess the status of their populations. The information he collects will be used to determine where Wood

Turtle hotspots occur and which watersheds are most important to the species so that landowner and conservation outreach can be targeted to those areas. Because properties with existing easements likely occur in those critical areas, Wood Turtle conservation can also be incorporated into the management plans on those properties. Briggs has already contacted private landowners in the Northeast Kingdom who own acreage serving as critical habitat and raised some interest among them about conserving their land through NRCS. Establishing these relationships is important for educating producers about their options for species protection on working lands.

The Orianne Society also gathers partners to help them learn monitoring methodologies.

Standardized methodologies enable natural resource professionals to achieve accurate abundance estimates. Communication and networking among partners is the driving force behind effective species protection.

While NRCS staff and The Orianne Society visited a private property to assess habitat restoration potential, they found this juvenile Snapping Turtle.

Photo: Kiley Briggs

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After finding a few Wood Turtles during a training with The Orianne Society, NRCS staff learn about how to determine the age and sex of the turtles. Photo: Kiley Briggs

Overlapping conservation challenges, including development pressure, threatened species, and water quality concerns, present enormous opportunity for collaboration. Riparian zones are biodiversity hotspots and important travel corridors for many species. Conservation easements and best management practices implemented in the Wood Turtle’s riparian habitat demonstrate that working lands, when managed properly, can thrive with wildlife intact. As a result of NRCS’s partnership with The Orianne Society, efforts can be targeted to protect existing populations and ensure the elusive Wood Turtle will continue to inhabit Vermont’s rivers and streams.

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Photo: Houston Chandler

Orianne Society’s Turtle Conservation Coordinator in Vermont talking to NRCS and Vermont Land Trust staff about Wood Turtle conservation. Photo: Rebecca Harris

While learning about Wood Turtle habitat management and survey methods, NRCS examine the hiding place of a turtle found near a river bank. Photo: Rebecca Harris

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Wildlife detector dog Charlie investigates a Gopher Tortoise burrow for an Eastern Indigo Snake. Photo: Josh Strobel

Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) The Power of Partnerships

by Chris Petersen, Priya Nanjappa, Jen Williams, and JJ Apodaca

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Indigomagazine On a mild-weathered winter day, biologists from The Orianne Society, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the US Navy, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission met at a Navy landing field located in northeastern Florida (Outlying Landing Field Whitehouse). The purpose of gathering was to search for the federally-threatened Eastern Indigo Snake using a nontraditional survey technique. Very nontraditional, in fact; with them was Charlie, a wildlife detector dog specifically trained to sniff out this snake species (or its shed skins) in Gopher Tortoise burrows. That morning and afternoon, the agency partners watched and evaluated Charlie as he did his job, which consisted of walking between two handlers trying to detect the scent of a snake. Although no Eastern Indigo Snakes were found that day, these efforts provide a perfect example of how effective partnerships can promote innovative and effective tools to the field of wildlife conservation.

All of the partners in the above effort to help Eastern Indigo Snakes are engaged in Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), including our Department of Defense chapter (DoD PARC). It is just one of many examples of the power of partnerships that have been realized since PARC was founded nearly two decades ago.

Our network continues to serve as a model of excellence for the conservation of amphibians and reptiles, and we are seeing that more and more decision-makers and land managers are paying attention to the needs of amphibians and reptiles.

How PARC Works PARC is a network of state and federal agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations, museums, industries (e.g., pet trade, energy, forest products), nature centers, zoos, academics, research scientists, and environmental consultants. Despite differing views, together we can harness this diversity to bring unique skills, ideas, and resources to efforts that help amphibians and reptiles.

PARC efforts come in many shapes, sizes, and scales. They range from on the ground conservation, such as wetland restoration

by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC, see below) collaborating with the US Forest Service, to broad scale conservation products. For example, several years ago, in partnership with The Orianne Society, we started identifying Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Areas, or PARCAs in the southeastern US. Using scientific data and professionally-developed criteria, we determine places that have a higher relative importance for amphibians and reptiles or their habitats. We then identify experts who know about the animals, their habitats, or have the ability to help make conservation efforts in the area more effective, and bring them together to review and discuss the areas before we finalize them. In turn, PARCAs bring more place-based conservation partners to the table, furthering our efforts, ideas, and resources.

Another example of our conservation work is our technical publication series. We have developed regionally-based habitat management guides and a manual for determining what amphibians and reptiles are present (inventory) in an area, as well as how to evaluate their populations over time (monitoring). These publications are written by top experts, and involve dozens of collaborators and reviewers. We specifically invite assistance or review from those partners who may not share the same level of priority for amphibian and reptile conservation, but whose activities can affect their persistence, before the publications are finalized. Doing so engages our key partners during the process of creating guidance materials, which can make it more likely that they will ultimately put these materials to good use.

Newest in our regionally-based technical publication series, Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Southwestern United States.

PARC’s Inventory and Monitoring techniques document covers all of the species in the US and Canada with respect to surveying for and monitoring species as a first step in assessing population health.

Who is PARC? PARC covers all aspects of herpetofaunal conservation and welcomes all who have a passion for amphibians and reptiles. We have regional working groups and a growing number of state chapters where anyone is able to attend and potentially get involved in our various species and habitat conservation efforts. To get involved with the nearest PARC group, visit: http://parcplace.org/network/ join-parc/.

Our membership extends from western Canada throughout the continental US and into the Caribbean. Anyone and everyone can interact in PARC, regardless of their level of experience or expertise with amphibians or reptiles. We recently defined our organizational core values: inclusivity and collaboration; pro-activeness; responsive and adaptive approaches; scientific integrity; biodiversity; and optimism. Read more about these in our annual report!

PARC’s regions and state working groups Another distinctive trait of PARC is that it is truly a bottom-up organization, where those in the field conducting scientific research, or those struggling with management challenges, come together to help provide expertbased guidance and conservation action at state, regional, or even national scales. We accomplish this primarily through our network interactions and our five Regional Working Groups and associated state chapters, which collectively form the foundation of PARC. PARC’s Leadership The beauty of PARC’s organizational leadership is that is changes frequently, allowing for many different views and voices to have a turn at the helm. The leadership of our governing body and external advisory teams generally rotate every two years (though there are exceptions). Each spring we announce the openings for these roles, and welcome anyone with interest to throw their name in the ring!

Leadership also rotates at the annual meetings in each region and state chapter; several such opportunities are available for those who are able to attend and participate.

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Indigomagazine PARC Mission Forging proactive partnerships to conserve amphibians, reptiles, and the places they live.

PARC Vision

PARC’s organizational structure. Arrows demonstrate the general flow of communication.

Joint National Steering Committee (JNSC).— The governing body of PARC is made up of representatives from each of five regional working groups and the national DoD PARC group, external advisory committees (federal and state), the national chairs and coordinators, and three at-large members representing industry, zoos, and nongovernmental organizations. The current list of members is available via a link here: http://parcplace.org/ about/what-is-parc/.

formalizes their support and participation in the organization. This committee addresses opportunities for cross-agency coordination and strategic conservation through PARC. Federal agencies have recognized the value of the PARC network and have been major supporters of PARC activities and products over the years. For more information on the FASC, including its current members, visit http://parcplace.org/about/federal-agenciessteering-committee/.

External advisory committees.—There are two external advisory committees representing federal and state agencies; their chairs serve on the JNSC. Federal.—Twelve (12) federal natural resource agencies are represented on PARC’s Federal Agencies Steering Committee (FASC), established in 2002. FASC agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding that

State.—States are represented in PARC via the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ (AFWA) Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Committee (AARCC). AFWA is a coordinating entity for all state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies in the US and Canada; the AARCC was established in 2008. State fish and wildlife agencies have the primary authority to manage amphibian and reptile populations (and shared

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A society where amphibians and reptiles are valued for their importance in our natural and cultural heritage, and are considered in all conservation and land management decisions.

When PARC was established in 1999, the conservation community recognized widespread declines, range reductions, and population losses of amphibians and reptiles worldwide. To try to find solutions to these challenges, PARC began its work focused on what could be done in the US. It is the first and only network to focus on all native amphibians and reptiles, regardless of whether species are considered federally or state threatened or endangered. Our hope is to keep common native species common.

Because of PARC’s inclusive nature, with respect to people as well as amphibians and reptiles (i.e., herpetofauna), it is the most comprehensive conservation effort ever undertaken for these species.

authority with certain federal agencies when species are listed as Threatened or Endangered

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PARC provides: • opportunities to bring together diverse groups of citizens, professionals, and organizations • open forums for discussing herpetofaunal conservation • an international conservation network • resources for everyone who values herpetofauna and their habitats • local, regional, and national events

PARC is unique because we: • Welcome all individuals, organizations, and agencies that have an interest in amphibian and reptile conservation • Focus on not only endangered and threatened species, but also on keeping common native species common • Connect and complement existing conservation efforts to achieve results at broader scales under the Endangered Species Act). Through PARC, states are able to address their shared and strategic conservation priorities and achieve multi-state coordination for species conservation. More information about the AARCC is available at http://parcplace.org/ about/what-is-parc/#state-committee.

National Coordination.—There are two paid, national coordinators for PARC. The Federal Agencies Coordinator is the only full-time, national employee for PARC. To date, this position has been term-limited, but efforts are underway to make it a permanent position. The State Agencies Coordinator is

PARC Regional Zones and State Chapters

the only other national employee for PARC. This position is permanent, but serves PARC only part time, while the remainder of time in the position is spent engaging in other conservation related activities. While each position has responsibilities for coordinated conservation activities and efforts among federal and state agencies, respectively, both play a role in coordinating PARC activities at the national level.

PARC’s National Task Teams Through PARC’s JNSC, we often learn of issues that are of interest among multiple partners. When these arise, we initiate national, issue-driven task teams to delve deeper into the issues and provide solutions to begin to address them. While over the years, PARC has convened several of these, here are two current examples: Disease.—Several recent amphibian and reptile pathogens, such as Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), ranavirus, and snake fungal disease, have received significant

attention for their threat to herpetofaunal biodiversity. PARC’s Disease Task Team formed in 2015 and membership includes biologists, veterinarians, and wildlife managers from the US, Canada, and Mexico, with the goal of facilitating and guiding communication, collaboration, and response to outbreaks of herpetofaunal diseases. The team has developed a website, created a handout on Bsal, started a regional list of professional contacts when new disease outbreaks occur, and supplied input on the North American response to Bsal. For more information, see http://parcplace.org/resources/parc-diseasetask-team/.

Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity.— PARC’s core value of inclusivity and collaboration is intended to make sure that all of our partners feel welcome and valued. It also drives PARC’s interest in being intentional in our efforts to recruit, support, and retain people with diverse ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, gender and sexual identities into the PARC network. To help facilitate these two goals, we created the Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity Task Team in 2017. While our primary goal

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Indigomagazine is to support a diverse representation of partners, we recognize that efforts toward including and ensuring a comfortable, open environment for underrepresented groups is a necessary first step. Additionally, thinking about ways to level the field for participation in PARC meetings is another important consideration that can contribute toward an outcome of diversity. As such, the team is in the process of developing a diversity statement that outlines our intentions, and will be developing best practices for connecting with underrepresented groups at local levels.

We are also seeking to increase mentoring opportunities and to provide scholarships to help allow and support participation.

Ultimately, we believe that a diversity of voices will help PARC to become more effective in our mission and more responsive to the communities and partners we serve.

The Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy PARC is a partnership without any single office; it is not an incorporated entity. We work closely with the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports amphibian and reptile conservation, which handles and distributes funds for PARC. Since its inception in 2009, ARC has greatly enhanced PARC’s conservation capacity and has led to some major on the ground successes. Through unique partnerships, successful fundraising and managing grants, ARC has established efforts to conserve rare species on federal lands, to restore numerous wetlands (while training others to do the same), and is supporting broad scale implementation of the PARC Strategic Plan. In addition to these roles, ARC strives to complement the work that PARC does, and in turn, leverages the PARC network to accomplish PARC’s mission and vision.

ARC’s small volunteer staff and operations are supported by public donations and modest indirect costs recovered from contracts and external grants. To learn more about ARC or to read their annual reports, visit www. amphibianandreptileconservancy.org.

Nearly Featured t w o

PARC Partner:

Department of Defense Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (DoD PARC) The DoD PARC group is a unique effort within PARC to help facilitate herpetofaunal conservation on the vast acreage of military lands. Launched in 2009, DoD PARC provides leadership, guidance, and support for the conservation and management of amphibians and reptiles on the nearly 25 million acres of DoD lands with the central intent of sustaining their mission of military readiness, including testing, training and operational activities. The DoD PARC group consists of approximately 400 military installation biologists with a passion for managing and conserving amphibians and reptiles on these lands.

Program Goals • Provide sound, science-based strategies, tools, and information for managing amphibian and reptile populations that can be incorporated into existing natural resources and land management programs • Reduce or eliminate population declines of both common and at-risk species, thus helping preclude or minimize Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listings and critical habitat designations.

• Provide outreach tools to the military community, natural resources managers, and other partners to promote collaborative efforts that increase understanding of mission and conservation compatibility

The DoD PARC group is very active. For more information on the DoD PARC program and its products, such as the Strategic Plan for DoD Lands, Photo Website, or report on herpetofaunal biodiversity on military lands, contact the National Representative (Chris Petersen; chris.petersen@navy.mil) or visit: https://www.denix.osd.mil/dodparc/home/

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Navy employee finds a Timber Rattlesnake on Naval Support Activity Northwest Annex during a DoD PARC Earth Day survey event.

Photo: Chris Petersen

decades have passed since the birth of PARC, and since that time it has grown into the largest and most effective partnership dedicated to the conservation of herpetofauna. We are grateful to see our network of partners contribute to conservation in ways both tangible, such as gains in science-based understanding of species conservation needs, and immeasurable, such as increased appreciation for amphibians, reptiles, and their conservation challenges and needs. The challenges facing amphibians and reptiles are extensive and complex; there are no easy solutions in the world of conservation.

However, through partners working in concert and through strategic effort, we can continue to make great strides in supporting healthy populations of amphibians and reptiles.

We are extremely thankful to all our partners, including The Orianne Society, and members who keep the network growing and who work hard to advance the conservation of amphibians and reptiles and the places they live.

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Field

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d photos

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1.Andy Coleman

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Alabama Map Turtle

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JD Kleopfer

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Eastern Milksnake

3.Gary Williamson Scarlet Kingsnake

4.Bronc Rice 5.Margaret Nall

Southern Black Racerr

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Southern Toad

6.John Darvie Wood Turtle

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7.Julie Pearce Rat Snake

8.Mario Ramos

Mexican Parrot Snake

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Olivia Thomas Gopher Tortoise

10.David Kausyla Gray Treefrog

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UPCOMING events SEPTEMBER 2018 s o u t h w e s t pa r C m e e t i n g September 6-9, 2018 Oklahoma City, OK

ammonoocuc chapter of NH Audubon September 19, 2018 The Rocks Bethlehem, NH

L o n g l e a f A c a d e m y : U n d e r s t o ry D i v ers i ty 2 0 1 September 25-27 Little Ocmulgee State Park McRae, GA

Â

OCTOBER 2018 Coastfest October 6 Mary Ross Waterfront Park Brunswick, GA

Great Artdoors Festival

12th Biennial Longleaf Conference October 23-26, 2018 Alexandria, LA

NOVEMBER 2018 Snakes of Vermont November 1, 2018 Saint Johnsbury, VT

P l a n tat i o n w i l d l i f e A r t s F e s t i va l November 10-18, 2018 Thomasville, GA

a toast to to rto i s es November 11, 2018 Savannah, GA

# G i v i n g T u e s d ay November 27, 2018 Nationwide

October 13 Hambidge Center Rabun Gap, GA

Places you've never herped October 13-14 Alligator Creek WMA

Introduction to Wood Turtle Conservation October 24, 2018 Thetford, VT

O r i a n n e l a n d o w n e r a p p r e c i at i o n d ay October 20, 2018 Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve

= The Orianne Society will be participating Want to announce an upcoming herpetology or land management event in the winter issue of Indigo Magazine?

E-mail the event information to info@oriannesociety.org

by October 1, 2018 to be included.

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Eastern Milksnakes- JD Kleopfer

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MEMBER levels Our members are the backbone of our organization, and we cannot accomplish all we do without your support! This year, we have expanded our membership program to offer differing levels of support to encourage members to become sustaining supporters of reptiles, amphibians and their habitats:

Spotted Salamander Membership: $35

• Car Decal • Invitations to Exclusive Events • Monthly E-newsletters • Bi-yearly Magazines (electronic) • Annual Report (electronic) • Bragging Rights!

Wood Turtle Membership: $100 In addition to the $35 member benefits, you’ll have the option to receive one of the following: • Printed Magazines and Reports • Limited Edition Print

Indigo Snake Membership: $150

Photo: Heidi Hall

In addition to the $35 member benefits, you’ll receive both of the following: • Printed Magazines and Reports • Limited Edition Print

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TAKE action

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BECOME A SUSTAINING DONOR

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SPREAD THE WORD

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PLAN YOUR GIVING

We don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth when it comes to letting people know about our work and the ways they can contribute! Please consider sharing this magazine with others who have an interest in conservation, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t just plan for your future—plan for the future of reptiles, amphibians and the great places they inhabit. Whether you prefer to set up an annual donation or a deferred gift, we can work with you to determine what you want your gift to support and how it will benefit these amazing animals and landscapes. Please contact us at info@oriannesociety.org or 706-224-1359 for more information about our planned giving opportunities.

@OrianneSociety

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. Photo: Daniel Wakefield

Members can continue to support our conservation efforts throughout the year by scheduling a recurring donation of your choice on a monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly basis through our secure website or by contacting us directly.

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www.OrianneSociety.org Yellow-bellied Slider. Photo: Braden Simmons Cover Photo: Heidi Hall