Blanding’s Turtle Habitat Corridor Design

Great Ecology, in collaboration with MKW + Associates, developed a set of conceptual design alternatives for creating Blanding’s turtle habitat corridors within James Baird State Park, in Dutchess County, NY. Several decades of turtle monitoring within the park indicated the existing conditions and competing park uses are problematic because turtles are susceptible to injury/mortality when crossing roads to travel between wetlands and nesting habitats.

Great Ecology’s role in the project was to evaluate existing conditions, and develop a project conceptual plan, depicting two habitat improvement alternatives for the park. These concepts were depicted in a visual rendering to depict the overall layout for the preferred project alternatives and habitat improvements within the park, and options for creating barriers to improve turtle movement throughout the landscape. Great Ecology also assisted MKW in the development of a project implementation cost estimate and identifying permitting/regulatory requirements.