This one-lane bridge is designed so that turtles and other creatures can pass freely underneath, while the decking can be lifted off so that beaver dams beneath the bridge can be easily removed.

Published in the Gananoque Reporter

by Cameron Smith

I imagine that everyone reading this newspaper has seen snapping turtles. They are awesome creatures, hardy emissaries from the deep past. They evolved about 215 million years ago, before dinosaurs appeared, and they survived the extinction that killed the dinosaurs. But they may not survive us.

A year ago, the federal agency charged with identifying species at risk, declared snapping turtles to be a species of special concern. This is the lowest ranking, coming after threatened, endangered, extirpated (absent from this area but not from others), and extinct. Nevertheless, it is the ranking that first raises a red flag.

Here in Leeds and the Thousand Islands we need to pay attention, because snapping turtles are disappearing faster than they can replace themselves, even though this is one of the most productive turtle areas in Canada.

The main reason for their decline is road kill, and it doesn’t take much to throw turtle populations into a downward spiral. So many creatures prey on turtle eggs and on young turtles, that only a few juveniles reach sexual maturity to compensate for older turtles that die from natural causes. Add road kill, and recruitment of juveniles can’t compensate.

A study in Michigan found that when annual road kill totals one tenth of one per cent of a turtle population, the number of turtles can be cut in half within 20 years. That’s a sobering figure, since studies at St. Lawrence Islands National Park have found that road kill here is higher than that, sometimes much higher.

Bleak as this picture is, however, it’s not without hope. I live on Black Rapids Road a few hundred metres from where the township has replaced an old wooden bridge with a structure that is a showpiece of environmental sensitivity. The new bridge is one-lane, just like the old one, and it has been designed with snapping turtles in mind. With wetlands on both sides of the gravel road, the area had been a slaughtering field for snappers. Females tried to lay their eggs in the gravel and were run over by cars and trucks.

Now, there will be fencing to keep turtles off the road, and a gravel nesting area away from the road so that females can lay their eggs in safety. To get to the nesting area, they’ll have free passage under the bridge. Screens will no longer be erected to keep beavers from building dams beneath it. And because the bridge is narrow, there’ll be light underneath to encourage them to use the passage. To deal with beavers, works crews will be able to slide back the bridge decking, so that machinery can scoop out dams.

The new bridge is the result of a year-and-a-half of discussions between township officials and local residents. There were bumps and hiccups along the way, but it was well worth the effort. The bridge cost much less than was first planned; turtles will be protected; and discussions between residents and officals proved that collaboration works.

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