The Wood Turtle was named one of the nation’s Top 10 Species in Need of Protection by the Endangered Species Coalition. Click here to see the December 17, 2008 Press Release announcing this dubious honor. Visit the Endangered Species Coalition website, www.stopextinction.org, to read more about the nine other needy species

For many years, Wild Virginia has worked to protect the wood turtle at the southern end of its range here in Virginia and West Virginia. With much of its habitat on private lands having been degraded, fragmented, and lost altogether through the years, public lands offer the best opportunity to protect and maintain a viable population of these vulnerable animals for the long term.

Creating a Special Biological Area in the George Washington National Forest, with an objective of effectively managing and protecting a wood turtle population, is critical for the future of the wood turtle in Virginia. Please write to the U.S. Forest Service and urge them to create a Special Biological Area for the wood turtle. With the Forest Plan for the GWNF currently under revision, please act now to make your ideas a part of the planning process. Click here to get contact information and read more about Forest Plannng.