LIP Bog Turtle Habitat Protection Project
We anticipate that the application period for the Bog Turtle LIP Grants will be announced later this fall or early winter. Check back for application dates.
Purpose
The Landowner Incentive Program For Management and Protection of bog turtle habitat is a new grant program administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The program encourages private landowner participation in habitat management and protection by providing technical advice and funding for the protection of at-risk species and their habitats, specifically bog turtles and their habitat.
Need
Shallow, spring-fed, open-canopy wetlands such as mineral fens and wet meadows are home to the federally threatened bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) and other rare species such as the spotted turtle (Clemmys gutatta), and wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta). These wetlands were once numerous throughout the Hudson Valley and Great Lakes Plains regions of the state and were maintained in an early, open stage of succession by the combined effects of beaver damming activity, grazing by native herbivores, and low-intensity agricultural grazing.
The decline of agriculture in the Northeast and the shift towards row crops over the last 100 years have precipitated the loss of open-canopy wetlands. Over the last 30 years, bog turtles have disappeared from more than half of the wetlands they once occupied. Without the disturbance provided by fire and grazing animals, these wetlands become quickly colonized and overgrown with pioneer forest species such as red maple and poplar. Habitat degradation is accelerated and exacerbated by development; infestation by exotic-invasive species such as phragmites, purple loosestrife, multiflora rose, and Japanese knotweed; agricultural runoff; and building of roads which function as barriers to animal movement and disrupt wetland hydrology.
Since ninety-five percent of bog turtle habitat is on private land; survival of the species in the wild is impossible without the collaboration of private landowners. Through this program, private landowners will be able to apply to receive technical assistance and funding to protect and improve the species' habitat.
Geographical Focus
Overall recovery efforts for the federally-threatened bog turtle are guided by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) "Bog Turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergii) Northern Population Recovery Plan" available from the USFWS Bog Turtle webpage linked in the column to the right. This plan divides the northern population of the bog turtle into five distinct recovery units. Two of these, the Prairie Peninsula/Lake Plain unit and the Hudson/Housatonic unit are partially located within New York. The latter of these is the most important, comprising 33 of 37 known metapopulation sites in New York.
To maximize the effects of limited funding available, DEC will limit eligibility to a focus area within the Hudson-Housatonic Recovery Unit. This area was selected by bog turtle experts based on the history of recent occurrences, the need for protection and management of habitat, and natural features such as mountain ridges that limit population movements. Applications must involve the management and restoration of bog turtle habitat within the focus area. The focus area includes portions of Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Orange counties.
What kind of work is eligible for funding?
The goal of this Landowner Incentive Program is to manage, restore, and conserve habitat for bog turtles and other species that occupy the same habitat. Activities related to this goal include management of vegetation, restoration of hydrology, and connection of habitats. Monitoring the effect of management should be a component of the proposed work. Applications focusing on research, planning, inventory, or captive breeding will generally not be considered eligible.
Who is eligible to apply?
To be eligible to apply for project funding, applicants must be private landowners or a non-governmental group proposing to do work on privately-owned land. The application must include original signed approval letters from all private property owners involved.
