CATAWBA LANDS CONSERVANCY
2017
CATAWBA LANDS CONSERVANCY TO PROTECT MORE OF REGION’S RARE HABITAT
By Sean Bloom, CLC GIS Director and Biologist
his spring, in a small pocket of Gaston slows and widens out across the valley floor, creating a sunny bog. County, slime-covered creatures will While the bog itself is open and not shaded, the emerge from the muck and mire. forested slopes help shield the bog below from getting It may sound like a B-movie horror flick, but it’s really nothing more than too warm in the long, hot Piedmont summers. “It is the cold groundwater flowing into the bog, keeping it the adorable bog turtles (Glyptemys cool, which is key for these bog turtles,” says Jeff Hall, muhlenbergii), the smallest turtles a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with the NCWRC. The in North America. These turtles are listed as Threatshaded, wooded slopes and sunny, open bog create a ened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Goldilocks environment; not too cold and not too hot. and since 2006, Catawba Lands Conservancy has Just right for the little bog turtles! worked with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission This population is significant for the species’ (NCWRC), the USFWS and a private landowner to survival. According to Professor Shannon Pittman of protect the stream and bog these turtles call home. Davidson College, “isolated populations, like this bog, The clean and cool water entering the bog can be important reservoirs of genetic diversity which is one of the many things that makes this area so can benefit the species at large.” inviting for the bog turtles. Normally, bog turtles are Not only has the Conservancy protected the bog found high up in the Appalachian Mountains, but and surrounding land, but the stewardship team has Gaston County is home to one of the rare Piedmont also recently supervised a bog restoration with the populations. During the last ice age, many plants and USFWS to ensure the bog stays wet and mucky. animals were forced south and out of the mountains to avoid the ice sheet. As the ice sheet and glaciers retreated, plants and animals began moving north and up into higher elevations. Although, in certain instances, when conditions were just right, plants and animals stayed in areas isolated from the rest of the population. Such is the case with Gaston County’s bog turtles. Here, cool groundwater flows from a spring through a forested canopy and into a wide and flat valley that is flanked by wooded slopes. As the small stream enters the valley it PART OF THE BOG CURRENTLY PROTECTED BY CLC
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THE BOG IS IN TROUBLE
The bog that the Conservancy has worked so hard to protect over the last 10 years is now at risk. An adjoining property, which surrounds the headwaters for the bog, is for sale and slated to be cleared for development. By conserving the adjoining property, the Conservancy will protect the stream and bog as well as the trees which provide the shade that makes the clear, cool water an ideal habitat for the bog turtles.
HELP US SAVE THE BOG TURTLE’S HOME! With your help, we can save the bog and protect the habitat of the smallest turtle in North America. Catawba Lands Conservancy must raise the remaining $50,000 needed to purchase the adjoining property by May 1. Every dollar donated helps us reach this goal and puts us one step closer to saving this fragile ecosystem. Please visit catawbalands.org/bog to make a donation towards the bog!
Photo by Crystal Cockman
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