Conservation Milestone 2017-18 Carney Interns

Thanks to important support by Dr. Ed Carney, six wildlife conservation interns now come to the Refuge each year (three groups of two interns, each group staying four months) to carry on important conservation work under the guidance of Refuge biologists Joe Reinman and Jonathan Chandler.  

The Carney Interns helped establish and now monitor Red Cockaded Woodpeckers (RWC). Their work helps Refuge biologists determine how successful recent translocation projects have been and where translocated RCWs are nesting within the Refuge. They also continue the site restoration work critical to RCW transfer by removal of invasive species such as cogon grass, torpedo grass, and cuban bulrush.

Prior Carney interns established a "nursery" for Frosted Flatwoods Salamander larvae so that greater numbers of the federally threatened species could be returned to their natal ponds.  This past year, 40 tanks filled with larvae were monitored. Interns maintained the tanks and tagged the new salamanders to track project success. Without the Carney Interns Refuge biologists estimate fewer than ten tanks of salamander larvae could be maintained. This translates to many more salamanders going into many more ponds throughout the Refuge.