Turtle Nesting Beach Work Day Benefits Spiny Softshell Turtles – via Herp Digest

NORTH HERO, Vt. by Staci DaSilva ,10/24 2015, Nexstar TV

The annual Autumn Turtle Nesting Beach Work Day, held by Vermont Fish & Wildlife, aims to protect the state threatened species.

Volunteers do their part to sustain the species by pulling up vegetation to prepare the sites for nesting next June.

They began their day of cleanup on Saturday at North Hero State Park.

The turtles nest on only a few beaches on the northern parts of Lake Champlain, according to Fish & Wildlife.

"Because so much of the lakeshore is developed, that we have to maintain some of these big sites that have multiple turtles nesting, hundreds, sometimes 200 turtles in small areas,” said Steve Parren, Fish & Wildlife Biologist.

Nesting Beach Work Day not only opens spiny softshell turtles, but also map turtles, painted turtles and snapping turtles.

Some hatchling turtles will be raised in captivity by experts at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center while they are small and most vulnerable to predators.

They will be released back into Lake Champlain in the spring.