Protecting wildlife

Campaign to protect migrating salamanders creates new challenges

By SWP Staff

Over the last few years the City of Marquette has received national media attention for a successful program to protect a population of blue spotted salamanders (Ambystoma laterale) during their annual spring migration inside Presque Isle Park. The plan was simple: limit car traffic to reduce salamander mortality (i.e.; salamanders were getting squished by cars while trying to cross the road at night).

Starting in the spring of 2020, city staff, in cooperation with the staff from the Superior Watershed Partnership and biology students from Northern Michigan University, started closing a section of roadway that the salamanders must cross to reach the vernal ponds and wetlands where they spawn. The program has been a resounding success, with salamander deaths dropping from over 400 per season to less than 10 per season.

Ironically, the viral media attention has created another threat to this slow-moving amphibian: too many people. On some nights, hundreds of people now walk past the car barricades to try and catch a glimpse of the colorful little salamanders as they wriggle across the wet pavement. For the most part, people have viewed the salamanders in a respectful manner; however, too many people could create the same problem as too many cars. What to do?

In an effort to promote more sustainable tourism and better protect our sensitive natural areas Travel Marquette, in cooperation with SWP, trail groups and local businesses have been sharing the Leave No Trace principles with local residents and visitors. Start- ed in the 1970s, the Leave No Trace program offers a list of seven common sense practices to observe when enjoying nature, whether a wilderness area or a city park.

The principles address such things as proper planning, staying on trails, disposing of trash, leaving things as you found them, being careful with fire, sharing sites and respecting wildlife. Each principle includes numerous recommendations to minimize environmental impact from humans. For instance, the Respect Wildlife principle includes: do not disturb, do not touch, do not feed and perhaps most importantly in regards to our local salamander migration, “give wildlife extra space during sensitive times like winter, mating season, and birthing season.”

In order to better respect wildlife (i.e.; salamanders) the City of Marquette, in cooperation with SWP and NMU, have made several improvements to the Presque Isle salamander protection program for the 2023 migration season.

First, an additional 300 feet of Peter White Drive will be closed to car traffic in the evening. Monitoring has confirmed this section of roadway is frequently used by salamanders during the migration period. It should be noted that the road is only closed at night from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. (the road is open to cars during daylight hours). The evening road closure will take place from March 15-May 15 but dates could change due to a changing climate.

Second, SWP staff and NMU students will be on-site periodically throughout the migration to conduct monitoring and to answer questions from visitors. However, project partners will not be publicizing the peak migration periods via social media or other public media outlets. It is hoped that this will prevent the mass turnouts that occurred last year.

Obviously having hundreds of people walking the road on a night when hundreds of salamanders are attempting to cross is asking for trouble. Hiking boots or bicycles can injure or kill a salamander as efficiently as a car tire. But it’s more than the risk of inadvertently harming a salamander. From an evolutionary perspective it’s respecting what has, until recently, been an unseen, undisturbed, midnight migration ritual. It has also been suggested to limit evening site visits to 25 people at one time.

Third, the SWP has committed funding for the first salamander bypass to be installed at a future date in cooperation with the Marquette Parks and Recreation Department. A salamander bypass is a narrow tunnel with a grated top installed under a roadway to facilitate safe migration.

Lastly, during the summer and fall, the SWP will provide the Great Lakes Climate Corps (GLCC) assistance with a wide variety of habitat restoration, water quality and sustainable tourism projects. That includes helping improve conditions for sustainable salamander migrations.

These hearty little creatures have been quietly making their annual migrations for millennia, but with social media, increasing tourism and other emerging environmental threats, it will take a community approach to keep things sustainable.

The SWP will be offering a number of community volunteer events this summer and fall. Visit superiorwatersheds.org to learn more.