Protecting Blanding's turtles: How a grant could help species' survival in DuPage County
From the beginning, the life of a Blanding's turtle is not easy.
Their eggs often fall prey to skunks and raccoons. If they break out of their shell and escape predators, slow-maturing Blanding's turtles still face man-made perils.
Known for their bright yellow throat and curved mouth, the reptiles are illegally collected for the pet trade. Their numbers have suffered from the decline of high-quality wetlands and collisions with cars.
To improve their home territories, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is pursuing an "America the Beautiful Challenge" grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund a habitat restoration project. Ecologists say the work will benefit populations of the state-endangered Blanding's turtle and rare species of marsh birds.
After observing a troubling population decline, the district's ecologists started the region's first Blanding's turtle "head-start" program more than 25 years ago to help reverse the trend.
Pregnant females get a safe place to lay their eggs. Zoos, museums and other partner institutions raise the turtle hatchlings for a year in captivity, giving them a "head start" so their larger size offers more protection from predators and a better chance at survival when they're released into forest preserves as plucky juveniles.
According to the district, more than 4,000 Blanding's turtles from wild and head-start mothers have been hatched under the program.
Now, the district is seeking funding to help Blanding's turtles on another front.
A proposed $897,737 restoration project includes 439 acres of invasive species control in core Blanding's turtle habitat and the surrounding landscape. The restoration effort would also enhance 46 acres of open water marsh habitat for Blanding's turtles and rare aquatic birds, district officials say.
If the "America the Beautiful" grant is awarded, the district would use the funds at two forest preserves where the species are known to live. The district doesn't publicize the locations to protect the turtles from collectors.
Forest preserve commissioners have committed $38,337 - matching 10% of the funding amount requested for the work. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources also has pledged $43,275. The district is partnering with IDNR on the grant proposal.
"The objectives of our proposal are first to address habitat loss, fragmentation, hydrologic change and invasive species encroachment that threatens native plant and animal populations with a specific focus on rare species," forest preserve ecology supervisor Tom Velat said.
Experts have prescribed a combination of water control structures and invasive species management to improve the quality of wetland acres.
"It's very important that we have outside partners help us," Commissioner Jeff Gahris said.
Officials expect grant recipients will be announced in November. If all goes well, the project would likely start in March 2024.