Over 90 species of plants and animals of extreme conservation concern occur in bog turtle habitats in the Southern Applachians.

Since its inception, the Tortoise Reserve has been involved in a number of education and research programs focused on the conservation of bog turtles. The captive breeding programs of the North Carolina Zoo and the Baltimore Zoo are structured entirely around individuals on loan from our captive groups. In 1998 we presented an recognition award and a cash donation to the Baltimore for the program they were developing. We also arranged for the donation of seedlings of an endangered species of pitcher plant to be exhibited in the Knoxville Zoos bog turtle exhibit, and we help in various ways with the breeding program at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences.

In 1999 we participated in a workshop run by the state of Maryland on the conservation of bog turtles, and currently serve as part of an officially recognized survey team for people needing to know about the potential of occurrence at specific sites. We volunteer our time to individuals attempting to restrict development, and charge developers, using funds generated for conservation. We are currently working with one land protection organization in Pennsylvania an attempt to document the distribution of bog turtles of one entire drainage system. In the process of working with landowners we have been able to set aside several key bog turtle sites as sanctuaries in Maryland, and we are working on obtaining a number of them in Pennsylvania.

Habitat destruction in western NC, May 1999

In 1999 we produced an educational slide set on bog turtles which we sell with all funds generated from sales going to Project Bog Turtle. In addition to Project Bog Turtle we are working closely with a group of Native Americans interested in the conservation of bog turtles who have started their own Bog Turtle Foundation. In 1998 we obtained a contract from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to study the breeding birds associated with the wetlands in which bog turtles live. In this study our field efforts are supported by partnerships with Appalachian State University and the Wilderness Society. Currently we are working with several volunteer exotic plant eradication groups in an attempt to remove invasive plants from bog turtle wetlands. The first major effort are to take place in the winter of 2000-2001. Through the North Carolina Botanical Garden we have produced a list of invasive exotics plants associated with freshwater wetlands.