Burning Down The House
(photo: Bill Wolfe)
A Dispatch On “Inappropriate Habitat”
DEP found another reason to cut trees
[Update: April 9, 2024 – According to the Pinelands Commission’s March 24 Monthly Report, 2 box turtles survived DEP prescribed burns:
Box Turtle Study: In early March, Science staff again checked on radio tracked box turtles at their overwinter locations to measure the depth of the turtles from the surface and to collect soil and habitat data associated with turtle hibernacula. Later in the month, staff began a regular schedule of tracking the 68 turtles in the study. Ten turtles emerged from hibernacula in late March. Staff continued to work with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service to coordinate prescribed burning where there are clusters of radio tracked turtles. Prescribed burns occurred in the vicinity of two of the radio tracked box turtles. Both turtles were hibernating at the time of the fires and, though leaf litter was burned away at the surface, the turtles had no visual wounds or marks from the fires. ~~~ end update]
Two items from the Pinelands Commission’s January 2024 Monthly Management Report caught my eye as particularly cruel and stupid.
Check this one out –
5.2 LONG TERM STUDIES
• Box Turtle Study: Science and NJDEP ENSP staff met to discuss the overlap between the activity ranges of clusters of radio tracked turtles and areas approved for prescribed burning. Science staff then contacted New Jersey Forest Fire Service staff to begin coordinating for a prescribed burn in an area with a cluster of radio-tracked turtles.
Like the snake capture data, staff entered the data collected during the initial capture of each turtle. The data have not yet been finalized. In the fall of 2023, science staff attached ibuttons to 26 of the radio tracked turtles to record the temperature of the turtle shell during their overwintering period. In January 2024, staff installed ibuttons just above the 26 turtle hibernacula to monitor the air temperature. Data collected by the ibuttons, as well as other types of data, will be used to develop a statistical model to predict when box turtles would typically emerge from their hibernacula in the spring. (page 12)
Coordination? Prescribed burns that kill box turtles should be prohibited.
What the hell are DEP and the Pinelands Commission thinking?
And this one sounds really sketchy: it’s incredible how many “justifications” DEP can find for cutting down trees:
Clearing trees and snake relocation? How “limited” is the tree loss? What’s up with this?
“New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)/Timber rattlesnake Habitat: By letter dated January 31, 2024, the Commission staff responded to a December 22, 2023 email and a January 9, 2024 email from the NJDEP proposing the creation of timber rattlesnake habitat and the relocation of gravid female timber rattlesnakes from “inappropriate habitat.” The Commission staff’s letter indicated that the proposed limited harvesting of trees to create the habitat did not require application to the Commission. The Commission staff letter also indicated that NJDEP’s proposed relocation of a T&E animal species does not constitute development and, therefore, does not require application to the Commission. However, the Commission staff letter expressed concern regarding the determination of what does and does not constitute “inappropriate habitat” for a T&E animal species and the regulatory precedent and implications that might arise from NJDEP’s relocation of T&E animal species.”