Spotted turtles (clemmys guttata) have declined across their range and are of conservation concern throughout the united states and canada

This $246,000 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the State Wildlife Grants (CFDA 15.634) program aims to support conservation of the endangered Spotted Turtle across its range in the Southeastern U.S. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources will lead efforts to: 1) identify priority habitats and improve habitat quality and quantity for Spotted Turtles, 2) conduct demographic assessments to evaluate population viability in six states, 3) refine sampling protocols to address detection challenges, 4) provide technical assistance to landowners and restore critical habitats, 5) hold a workshop to combat illegal trade of Spotted Turtles and related freshwater turtle species of greatest conservation need, and 6) update the existing Spotted Turtle conservation plan based on data collected. The project will leverage prior assessments and implementation of a regional conservation plan to increase Spotted Turtle population size and support healthy metapopulations across the Southeastern U.S.

They have been identified as species of greatest conservation need (sgcn) in all 21 states where they occur, are considered endangered by the iucn, and are being considered for federal listing under the endangered species act (ESA), as amended. In response to these broad appraisals, a status assessment and conservation plan were recently developed for the spotted turtle in the eastern united states. We propose to leverage the findings of this assessment and implement elements of the conservation plan by undertaking the following projects with the overall goal of increasing population size and supporting healthy metapopulations of spotted turtles and associated sgcn in the southeastern U.S., from florida to west virginia. To do this, we will seek to identify priority wetland and terrestrial habitats for spotted turtles in the southeastern U.S., improve their habitat quality and quantity, and improve awareness of and protection from illegal trade. We will address data gaps in southeastern U.S. Spotted turtle distribution through continued inter-state collaboration and research (objective 1), develop long-term demographic assessment sites to evaluate population viability in six states (objective 2), refine the standard sampling protocol to address detection challenges (objective 3), provide technical assistance to landowner partners and restore critical habitats (objectives 4 5), hold an interagency workshop to combat illegal take of spotted turtles and other related freshwater turtle sgcn (objective 6), update and refine the conservation plan with data collected in this project (objective 7). We anticipate that the results and analyses from this project and the updated conservation plan will provide valuable information for the states as they address the listing decision of the USFWS and enable them, the USFWS, and partners to improve populations across the eastern U.S.