Environmental exploration (Beth Ward)

CARROLL COUNTY TIMES (Westminster, Maryland) 19 May 08 Environmental exploration (Beth Ward)
For more than a month, Jeremy Hite and Buddy Kondikoff have been searching the wetlands near the Carroll County Regional Airport for bog turtles, creatures small enough to fit in a person’s hand.
Hite, a qualified bog turtle surveyor, and Kondikoff, a wetlands expert, both with Rettew, a Lancaster, Pa.-based consulting firm, are surveying the current conditions near the airport as part of an environmental assessment.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires the environmental study before any development can take place such as the proposed runway expansion. The study is expected to take 18 months and will determine if development would have a significant impact on the environment.
Wetlands and wildlife are two of the 18 categories that will be evaluated in the environmental assessment.
In the search for bog turtles, Hite and Kondikoff walk through the wetlands, searching through vegetation. Both carry long wooden sticks, which they use to try to find turtles hiding in the vegetation and mud.
“We quietly walk through the wetlands and look for them basking or foraging around,” he said.
Part of the process is also setting traps for about two weeks, which they visit every day, Hite said.
Hite said there are strict protocols that must be followed when surveying for bog turtles. The turtles are on the state and federal threatened species list, a step below an endangered species designation.
Scott Smith, an ecologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and a bog turtle expert, helped develop the strict protocols used to survey for bog turtles.
“It’s a very small, secretive turtle,” Smith said. “In order to find them, you really have to look for them,” he said.
The protocols establish when surveys are to be conducted and how many hours must be logged. The surveys must be done between April and June. The protocols also require certain environmental conditions, such as temperature.
May is the time to survey, Smith said, since it is mating season.
“Right now they are very active and very social, which increases the likelihood you’ll see them,” he said.
Although the focus is on bog turtles, Hite said they identify any animals they come across. That information will also be included in their report. Kondikoff said they have found salamanders, frogs and plenty of snapping turtles. However, the two have yet to come across any bog turtles.
“We haven’t seen any, but we are still surveying,” Hite said.
Hite said they are about halfway through the process, which needs to wrap up by June 15. Mid-June is when the turtles start laying eggs and the vegetation becomes too dense to spot the tiny turtles.
Hite said they are still determining the exact acreage of wetlands, but within the wetlands are pockets of potential bog turtle habitat.
Although it depends on the project, if bog turtles are found during a survey, it would put restrictions on a project, Smith said.
“It’s really trying to find a balance between restricting a project’s development and protecting a species,” he said.
A second of three public open houses on the environmental assessment is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. June 9 in Room 003 of the County Office Building located at 225 N. Center St., Westminster. The open house is an opportunity for residents to ask questions and give feedback on the project, according to a county press release.
What are bog turtles?
“The bog turtle [is] characterized by their small size (maximum shell length of 4.25 inches) and the large patches of yellow or orange on both sides of the head. Omnivores, they generally feed on berries and insects, which are ample in their preferred habitat, wetlands that are spring-fed with saturated soils and small amounts of running water.”
Bog turtles are on the state and federal threatened species list, a step below an endangered species designation.
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/05/19/news/local_news/newsstory1.txt