Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Massachusetts
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is reviewing a petition to list the Blanding’s, Wood, and Spotted Turtles as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Surveys for Blanding’s Turtles were last conducted on Devens Reserve Forces Training Area (RFTA) in the early 1990s and early 2000s, although recent surveys and headstarting on adjacent properties (Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area) suggest this area has the largest population of Blanding’s Turtle in the northeast. Given the upcoming listing decisions, new surveys are needed to provide updated baseline population and habitat use information on the freshwater turtle populations at Devens RFTA. Specifically, our objectives are to (1) assess populations status, movement, and habitat use for Blanding’s Turtle using radio telemetry, and (2) conduct presence absence surveys for Spotted Turtle and Wood Turtle on Devens RFTA. Surveys may expand to areas adjacent to the Devens property as well as at the Hansom Air Force Base.