Three Rivers Land Trust and NC Herpetological Society Protect Rare Tiger Salamander Pond
Driving down a rural street in northeastern Moore County, you might easily drive right on past a seemingly insignificant forested wetland on the side of the road. However, this inundated property turned out to be much more than meets the eye. Thanks to a citizen scientist posting a sighting on HerpMapper, we now know that a newly identified population of tiger salamander are using this significant ephemeral pool as a very important breeding pond.
Biologists were unaware of the state threatened tiger salamander occurring in this particular area of Moore County until this occurrence was submitted. Then herpetologists with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission visited the spot it was seen, and found this important breeding pond of about 5 acres adjacent the road where the sighting occurred.
Those biologists also realized that Three Rivers Land Trust owned property nearby. So they reached out to the land trust to see if they would agree to take ownership of the site if the NC Herpetological Society could raise the funds to purchase it. Thankfully the landowner was willing to sell the site, and on July 16th it was purchased and now is owned by TRLT to protect the rare salamanders found there.
“Three Rivers Land Trust is so excited to be able to take ownership of this important site,” stated TRLT Associate Director Crystal Cockman. “Protecting local waters is a core focus of our mission, and isolated wetlands like this one have little legal protection now. So we are pleased to have had a willing landowner and a wonderful partner in the Herp Society to be able to see the protection of this very special place for the benefit of the rare tiger salamander and other amphibian species that use this property.”
Alvin Braswell, on behalf of the NC Herpetological Society says, “This partnership between the North Carolina Herpetological Society and TRLT to protect and manage an important breeding site for a Threatened species is a great example of what can be accomplished when conservation minded individuals and organizations work together. Environmental health benefits all living things and promotes sound, long-term economic prosperity. Keeping common species common and pushing endangered species back from the brink of extinction are important steps to promoting a healthy world.”
The fact that we didn’t know tiger salamanders existed in this portion of Moore County makes this that much more significant of a project. This represents a range extension for this species, and species tend to go extinct first at the edges of their range. Therefore, protecting this important breeding pond gives them a much better chance of survival here. Couple that with the additional lands TRLT owns for upland habitat nearby, and that improves their odds for persistence here for many years to come.
The purchase of this property was made possible in part by a generous contribution by Brad and Shelli Stanback and other donors to TRLT and the NC Herpetological Society.
To learn more about how to conserve your property or how to support Three Rivers Land Trust in our conservation mission, you can email Senior Land Protection Specialist, Emily Callicutt, at emily@trlt.org or 704-647-0302.
Information about the NC Herpetological Society can be found at www.ncherps.org. Donating to the NCHS can be done by mailing to North Carolina Herpetological Society, @ NC Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601-1029.