Mkinaak Management
The LRBOI Reservation Area falls within the tension zone of North America where Southern temperate forest transitions into Northern boreal forest. As a result, many species overlap in their distribution here. All nine turtle species native to Michigan can be found in the areas between Leelanau and Muskegon counties. The LRBOI Natural Resources Department Wildlife Division is committed to monitoring and protecting these species, especially the four species at risk of population declines.
Spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata)
Eastern Box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)
Wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta)
Blandings turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)
Nest Protection
One of the many threats to turtles are nest predators. All turtles lay eggs on land in underground nests dug into exposed sandy soils. Turtle eggs are a prized food source for small carnivores like racoons, opossoms, and skunks. While these predators are a natural part of the ecosystem, land conversion post-European settlement has created an overabundance of these predators compared to turtle populations.
For over 20 years the LRBOI NRD Wildlife Division has collaborated with the Huron-Manistee National Forests to protect Eastern box turtle and wood turtle nests in the Cadillac-Manistee District. LRBOI and USFS staff search for nesting turtles nightly during the period of late-May to early-June and the following morning place a protective cage over the nest to protect eggs from predators until the eggs hatch in September-October.
Habitat Protection
Turtles feed, mate, nest, thermoregulate, and overwinter in habitats with different conditions. Thus if they lose one component of their habitat within their relatively small home ranges, they can be at risk of not being able to survive and reproduce. Turtles often benefit from aspects of habitat management designed for other species, but unless habitat management encompasses all of a turtles needs, they still may decline over time.
The LRBOI NRD Wildlife Division works closely with other Michigan Tribes, the US Forest Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, National Park Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss and implement habitat restoration for turtles across the 1836 Ceded Territory.