CITIZEN SCIENTISTS NEEDED TO IDENTIFY TURTLE CROSSINGS IN MASSACHUSETTS
Turtles have existed for millions of years, but roadways are threatening the survival of local populations. Turtles in Massachusetts often cross roadways late spring to early fall and are vulnerable to car collisions. Ambitious citizen scientists, turtle enthusiasts, and conservation organizations are encouraged to join state wildlife and transportation personnel in collecting data for a Turtle Roadway Mortality Monitoring Program. Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife, a recent partnership between the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW), Department of Transportation (DOT) Highway Division and UMass-Amherst, trained volunteers to collect data in 2010 and is expanding its volunteer program by offering two citizen scientist information and training sessions in Amherst and Westborough. These sessions are designed to train new volunteers, acknowledge current volunteer efforts, and share results from the first year of data collection. The information gathered thorough this volunteer effort will be used to coordinate local turtle conservation efforts.
We welcome everyone to attend one of our two training sessions. The first information and training session will be held on Saturday, March 26, 2011, from 10am â€" 12pm at the Notch Visitor’s Center located at 1500 West Street in Amherst. The second session will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, from 7pm â€" 9pm at the Karl Weiss Educational Conference Building located on North Drive in Westborough. This facility is on the same property as the DFW Field Headquarters. The sessions are free, but pre-registration is required. Interested volunteers can register with DFW’s Dave Paulson at david.paulson@state.ma.us.
Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife is a long-term and multifaceted effort to minimize the impact of the existing road network on wildlife, while improving highway safety. Linking Landscapes offers three Massachusetts citizen science research efforts that allows online reporting of site specific wildlife roadway mortality through a Google Maps interface. For more information on Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife, go to: http://linkinglandscapes.info/roads/home.html.
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