UPDATE October 2023
An October 5th letter to the editor of the Provincetown Independent suggests a way for volunteers to mitigate the adverse effects of the Herring River Restoration Project on turtles nesting in the river's floodplain. Volunteers with the Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary have been protecting diamondback terrapins for decades by moving hatchlings out of harm's way and building "turtle gardens" as safe havens for nesting females. Applying their tried-and-true methods to the Herring River floodplain could protect terrapins and Eastern box turtles from being crushed by heavy equipment or drowned in their nests by restored tides.
UPDATE September 2023
The December 2022 Site Report for Eastern Box Turtles prepared by Oxbow Associates is now available on this website. Its conclusion includes:
- If initial discharges of brackish water begin during the hibernation or para-hibernation season, when animals are torpid or poorly reactive, significant mortality of known and unknown animals is likely to occur ... Five of the 13 box turtles surveyed in fall 2022 have hibernation sites within the potential future flood zones of the Herring River Restoration Project. In total, since 2016, 10 of the 22 animals have hibernated within potential future flood zones of the Herring River Restoration Project.
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The good news is that the project has a Turtle Protection Plan.
The bad news is twofold:
- No similar plan exists for birds: The only detailed plan to protect animals within the scope of the Herring River Restoration Project covers the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolinea) and the Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin). No similar plan exists for rare, threatened, or endangered birds, which, according to the Herring River Restoration Project Environmental Impact Report (2019), include the Rufa Red Knot (Calidris Canutus Rufa), American Bittern (Botaurus Lentiginosus), Least Bittern (Ixobrychus Exilis), and Northern Harrier (Circus Cyaneus).
- The turtle plan is severely limited:
- The protection plan is limited to measures such as contractor education, seasonal restrictions, and reptile exclusion fencing. It does not cover the broad expanse of woodlands and shrublands that will be cleared by heavy equipment.
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The project's vegetation management plan calls for the use of "chain saws, mowers, brush hogs, or larger, wheeled or treaded machines that cut and chip." There is no written plan to protect turtles. small mammals, and ground-nesting birds from being crushed by the huge treads of machines as they roll over the floor of woodlands and shrublands being cleared of unwanted vegetation. Nor to protect bird nests and their occupants in trees from the rotating blades of the full-tree mulchers that can shred small trees in a few seconds. (Click to watch one of these machines in action,)
The turtle plan was mandated: In a letter dated March 28, 2022, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife informed the town of Wellfleet and Cape Cod National Seashore that they "shall submit a State-listed Turtle Protection Plan to the Division for review and written approval. Said plan shall detail procedures for protecting state-listed turtles during construction and shall be prepared and implemented by a qualified biologist in possession of a valid Scientific Collection Permit." The turtle plan precisely meets the requirements set out by the Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.
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