Photo: Don Lyman
Despite being listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, the Blanding's Turtle is not federally protected in the US, although some states have regulations in place. Biologist Jared Green of Assabet River National in Hudson, Massachusetts, however wants to help increase their numbers in his state. The program hit a major milestone this spring releasing their One-thousandth turtle.

Biologists hope that building a strong population of Blanding’s turtles at Assabet River will help offset population losses being experienced by the turtles elsewhere.
Although there are some big Blanding’s turtle populations in the Midwest, most populations in the Northeast are less than 50 turtles, Butler says. The only large population is at Oxbow NWR, where an estimated several hundred Blanding’s turtles make their home. “That’s virtually unheard of east of the Mississippi,” explains Butler.

Read more at Earth Island Journal.