POWERGRAMS

15 to maximize the opportunity for protecting them," Baker said. A SPRINGTIME TRADITION They may not be much to look at, and its name is hardly dynamic or romantic. But the flattened musk turtle – scientific name Sternotherus depressus – is nothing if not a survivor. For 35 years this small, freshwater turtle has occupied a spot on the federal endangered species list. Over many decades, its habitat has contracted – the victim of development, water quality challenges and other factors. For a time, the turtles themselves were targets: trapped and sold as part of the commercial pet trade. But over the past decade, a collaborative initiative that includes Alabama Power, public agencies, and residents and businesses around Smith Lake have helped raise the turtle's profile – while raising hopes for a better, more stable future for this understated animal. Since 2011, Baker and Fitch have been knee-deep in the efforts to better understand the turtle's habits and habitat. Meanwhile, others at the power company and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have lent their expertise to help protect and enhance Smith Lake's shoreline to make it an even better place for the turtles to live and breed. As for seeing one yourself, don't expect to encounter the turtle during a casual cruise on Smith Lake. The brown-speckled turtle rarely grows larger than 4 inches. It's also a slow traveler; the nocturnal turtle rarely moves more than a few hundred feet during its spring nesting season, and pretty much stays submerged during daylight hours, and much of the night. Baker and Fitch know this, because they've attached tiny transmitters to some of the turtles to track their wanderings. And because of their tendency to be even less active during the day, the best time to trap them is after dark. Over the years, chicken gizzards have proved to be a tasty enticement to trap the turtles. (When store- bought poultry isn't served to them by Baker and Fitch, the turtles tend to survive as juveniles on soft-body bugs, and then chewy mussels and other freshwater mollusks as adults.) Springtime mating season is when the trappings typically take place – when the turtles are friskiest. Still, the slippery species isn't easy to snag. On an early morning in April, some 12 hours after Baker and Fitch set the aforementioned 30 traps at the two sites, the men returned to check on the traps. As the sun rose over a calm and quiet Smith Lake, its surface a mirror, except for filmy swirls of springtime pollen, the anticipation of capturing a turtle, or more than one, was palpable. The first site had never been surveyed before and was not considered prime turtle habitat, so the expectations were muted. Adversely affected by erosion from boat wakes and other conditions, the Forest Service is considering making improvements along this section of shoreline – part of the Bankhead National Forest – to make it more conducive for the turtles and other aquatic species. The data gathered by Baker and Fitch during the trapping operation – whether or not turtles are found – is expected to help support the potential project, including any attempt to secure federal dollars for the undertaking. One by one, Fitch pulled up the traps. In some, he scored a flapping menagerie of long-eared sunfish, green sunfish and bluegills. There were also leaves and other lake debris, but no turtles. The biologists then crossed the lake to the second site where traps were placed the prior afternoon. This site, also National Forest lands but considered better turtle habitat, had yielded turtles during an earlier trapping operation in 2014. Again, Fitch fished out the traps. Again, no flattened musk turtles. But to everyone's surprise, something else was ensnared in one of the traps – something no one expected. ENHANCING HABITAT Allison Cochran is a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, based in Double Springs. She noted that resources are always limited when it comes to protecting endangered Baker snaps a photo of a native plant at Smith Lake. Company biologist Fitch checks traps while company biologist Baker takes notes.

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