The DEC just announced some grant funding for private landowners interested in helping out the bog turtle.
Grant recipients are eligible for awards ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, depending on the project. To maximize the program's benefits, DEC will limit LIP eligibility to private landowners within the focus area, which includes portions of Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Orange counties. A map of the focus area can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/48737.html .
Bog turtles are endangered in New York State -- probably because they make their home in soggy, mucky, tussocky fields, a type of habitat both property developers and invasive purple loosestrife plants love to re-landscape. The DEC says 95 percent of bog turtle habitat is on private land.
Photo of a bog turtle in Western Massachusetts by Flickr user Michael T. Jones.
