CHICAGO — The unusually mobile Blanding’s turtles are getting a little help in their travels over train tracks in the former Army arsenal property south of Joliet, reports the Chicago Tribune.
An unknown number of the turtles–whose species is threatened in Illinois–have been observed in and around the marshy portions of the property. Concern over their future as a massive freight rail and trucking facility opens this summer has resulted in a protective system of culverts and ramps near rail tracks.
Oak Brook-based CenterPoint Properties, the rail-yard developer, has installed more than 40 culverts under the track beds that will allow the turtles and other aquatic wildlife to make their way to and from wetlands on either side of the tracks.
In addition, CenterPoint is putting in three or four, 2-foot-wide asphalt strips along a new set of rail spurs that will connect the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. tracks to the intermodal rail facility. The strips will provide the turtles passageways over the tracks, which lie in the middle of a floodplain where the turtles have been seen.
The creatures, once common in the Great Lakes region, found a refuge in the arsenal after production of munitions there stopped in the late 1970s. Naturalists at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, which also is on former arsenal land, are trying to ensure their survival.
“We’re working very closely with the staff at Midewin and trying our best to be as sensitive as we can about maintaining the threatened and endangered wildlife and their habitat in and adjacent to the national prairie,” said Jim Ford, vice president of land and rail development for CenterPoint.
The planned crossings are believed to be a first in Illinois, if not the nation, according to Mike Redmer, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Barrington.
While there is no guarantee that the turtles will use the strips or avoid being flattened by a train, the asphalt passageways “certainly can’t hurt,” Redmer said.
“Unlike a lot of other turtles, Blanding’s turtles are very mobile,” he said. “They can walk a mile or two at a time and that’s what gets them into trouble. They cross highways and railroad tracks where they are highly vulnerable to getting killed.”
“Railroad tracks are especially a problem, because the Blanding’s turtle is relatively small and often gets trapped between the two rails. Then they either get killed by a passing train or die from exposure, exhaustion and/or hunger. Hopefully, the strips will work to alleviate some of the problem.”
Extra attention is being given to the Blanding’s turtle because its existence in Illinois is threatened, said Bill Glass, an Illinois Department of Natural Resources biologist working at Midewin.
Once dominant in marshes throughout the northern two-thirds of the state, the number of known communities of Blanding’s turtles has diminished to fewer than three dozen statewide, including about 18 in the six-county Chicago area. Urban sprawl and the decline of wetlands, their main habitat, are the chief culprits.
The fact that the gentle creatures, named after the 19th Century Philadelphia doctor who discovered them, make attractive pets also has contributed to their decline. But capturing the turtles is illegal, naturalists say.
Ranging in length from 8 to 10 inches, the semi-aquatic, blue-black Blanding’s turtles, which can live for 70 years or more, are relatively easy to identify because of their high-domed shell and bright-yellow neck, chin and underside.
But because they’re shy, easily frightened and like to hide in shallow, muddy water, beneath which they can remain submerged for up to 30 minutes, spotting them can be difficult, Redmer said.
The last documented sightings of Blanding’s turtles at Midewin occurred in the early 1990s during a survey of endangered species in which Redmer participated as a college student.
“We haven’t been looking real hard for them since the survey, but we’ve gotten word of sightings from construction workers and visitors to Midewin, so we know they’re out there,” Glass said. “What we don’t know is if they’re out there in any great numbers.”
Even if their numbers at Midewin are small, the steps being taken to protect them are worth the effort, Glass said.
“If they’re around, these measures, hopefully, will help preserve them,” he said. “If not, other wildlife, hopefully, will take advantage of them.”
It’s estimated that the 16,000-acre Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie supports 23 species of amphibians and reptiles and 27 species of mammals, several of which are either on the state’s threatened or endangered species list.
The U.S. Forest Service has announced a 15-year, $300 million effort to restore the prairie to its natural state, making it the largest expanse of native prairie east of the Mississippi.
Eventually, the intention is to allow restricted use of the area by campers, hikers, cyclists and horseback riders.