October 01, 2009
Loafing Around Cranbrook; Wildlife Logs for Turtles

CRANBROOK For humans loafing may mean idling away time at leisure, but for turtles loafing is serious business. It's extra serious business when the turtles are provincially blue-listed, meaning they are vulnerable to further decline due to habitat loss and destruction. That's why the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP), with support from Tembec and The Nature Trust of BC (TNT), recently installed loafing logs for the western painted turtles in Elizabeth Lake just outside Cranbrook. "Turtles are cold-blooded and require the sun's energy to regulate body temperature," says FWCP wildlife biologist Ross Clarke who led the project. "Basking out of the water is a critical element of their daily routine. A lack of basking structures such as logs or large rocks in Elizabeth Lake had previously been identified as an issue." Basking plays a far more important role than purely increasing body temperature. Typically turtles need to obtain a body temperature of 18 C to digest food. Depending on the weather and time of year, western painted turtles spend up to two hours at a time basking in the sun out of the water. While they can absorb heat when they float near the surface, being out of the water is far more efficient. Basking is also important for turtles to rid themselves of algae and help promote healthy shell growth. "Tembec was fantastic and without them this would not have been possible," added Clarke. "They donated a dozen old cedar logs which were kindly delivered by Baron Quaife Trucking. Members of the East Kootenay Conservation crew, from TNT, helped haul the logs into place. Additional support was received from the Ministry of Environment, City of Cranbrook, and Art Gruenig of the Rocky Mountain Naturalists who oversees the turtle nesting protection work at Elizabeth Lake." Some of the logs are cabled in place so they will remain in the deeper water while others have been left to float around. The logs will also benefit the rich variety of waterfowl that frequent Elizabeth Lake. "This wetland contains a locally important population of western painted turtles," says FWCP co-chair Wayne Stetski. "The habitat enhancement work will help in ensuring not only the survival but potential growth of this turtle population into the future." The FWCP works on behalf of its program partners, the B.C. Ministry of Environment, BC Hydro, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by the construction of BC Hydro dams.

Angus Glass
Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
103-333 Victoria St. Nelson, BC V1L 4K3 Canada
Tel (250) 352-6874 Fax (250) 352-6178
angus.glass@bchydro.com