After more than a decade of pressure from environmental groups, federal wildlife managers have agreed to consider whether rare freshwater turtles found only in Louisiana and Mississippi should receive endangered species protections.
Pearl River and Pascagoula map turtles are at risk of extinction, say the Center for Biological Diversity and Healthy Gulf, two groups that sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January to compel the agency to list the turtles under the Endangered Species Act, a landmark environmental law credited with saving the bald eagle and American alligator, among other species.
In an agreement that resolved the lawsuit on Thursday, July 2, Fish and Wildlife promised to determine the turtles’ protected status by Oct. 29, 2021.
The center and other environmental groups first petitioned for the turtles’ endangered protection in 2010.
Jason Totoiu, a lawyer for the center, said the turtles need “help to live through the havoc we’re wreaking on rivers.”
Also known as sawbacks for the ridges topping their shells, the turtles have suffered habitat loss from channel filling, dredging and the clearing of sandbanks and fallen trees. The turtles are collected for the pet trade, hunted for Asian food and medicinal markets, and are sometimes a target for gun enthusiasts, according to the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.
A key threat for the Pearl River map turtle is the “One Lake” flood control project on the Pearl River near Jackson, Mississippi, said Andrew Whitehurst, Healthy Gulf’s water program manager.
“The Pearl River map turtle needs all the help it can get, so it’s good that the listing determination will proceed,” he said.
About 10 miles of the turtle’s habitat are in an area the One Lake project intends to dredge, dam and essentially turn into a 1,500-acre lake. The Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating the project’s environmental impacts. Listing the turtles as an endangered species could halt or alter the project.
One Lake’s supporters say the project is vital to protecting homes and businesses from flooding. But detractors, including some in St. Tammany Parish, fear the project could harm the lower reaches of the river and imperil other threatened species, including the sturgeon and mussels.
There’s some debate over whether the turtles are two separate species or whether they’re variations of another turtle species. According to the center, recent studies define the Pearl River and Pascagoula map turtles as distinct species.
Pearl River map turtles can live for 30 years and are found only in the creeks and rivers of the Pearl River drainage area in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Pascagoula map turtle has a small range in the Pascagoula river system in Mississippi.
The turtles, which can live 30 years, are considered some of the least-studied reptiles in North America.
The Pearl River population appears to have fallen below other turtle species protected by the ESA. According to a 2016 report by the U.S. Geological Survey, the ESA-listed ringed map turtle was more abundant than the Pearl River map turtle.
“Very little is known about the natural history and ecology of the species, which will make conservation efforts challenging,” the USGS report said.