The Tortoise and the Solar Plant

[Stephanie Logan]

I was teaching a 4-5 at our local school today, and as often happens, the teacher left me a Time For Kids mini-magazine to read with the kids. (Then I quiz them on the articles for table points, which they love ).
Mostly it was about the Olympics, but then, there on page 6, was this article! I was so excited!

Here it is:
Plenty of open land? Check. Plenty of sunshine? Check. A handful or tortoises? Uh-oh. Two dozen endangered tortoises might put a stop to three proposed solar-power plants in California's Mojave Desert. BrightSource Energy wants to build the plants on six square miles of government-owned land. The power plants, using 400,000 mirrors, would capture the sun's energy to heat water and make steam. The steam would turn giant machines called turbines to generate electricity. The plants could power 142,000 homes and create 1000 badly needed jobs in California.
But the area is also home to rare desert tortoises. Some scientists say building the solar plants could kill off the tortoises. Most environmental groups agree. But they also support clean, renewable energy. "It's actually a good project. It's just located in the wrong place," says Ileene Anderson, a biologist in Tucson, Arizona.
Move the Tortoises?
Many environmentalists are calling for big changes. "The project must not contribute to additional loss of habitat," says the Sierra Club, en environmental group. BrightSource says that moving the reptiles or finding a new site to build on could cost as much as $25 million.
It will be several months before officials reach a decision. But the case is being watched by environmentalists and power companies alike. As states use more alternative energy sources, people have to find a solution to this problem: how to preserve land and wildlife while providing clean, cheap power for growing state populations.
----By Jonathon Rosenbloom

And the "Think" box: "Is it important to save wildlife--even if it means people have to give up something? Why or why not?"

AND there was an adorable photo of a CDT on the page!
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It was so much fun to have an opportunity to talk to the kids about tortoises, and what they knew about tortoises versus turtles, whether they had ever had a pet tortoise and how they cared for it, etc.

But I was wondering if those of you more familiar with CDT's know how rare they actually are, whether there are other areas of habitat, and if you've heard about this issue?

 

[Candy]

Someone posted about this not so long ago, but I forget who posted it. Did the children know the difference between the two or not? I find that most of them do not. When I ask them they usually will not know what the difference is. Interesting article though it will be interesting to see what ends up happening. Hopefully the tortoise win.

 

[terryo]

"And the "Think" box: "Is it important to save wildlife--even if it means people have to give up something? Why or why not?"


I'd love to hear some of the answer's you got from those kids. Very interesting. You could start a little debate group in your class.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Bob is always who people think of when they see my name, but for years before I moved to Oregon I head-started hatchling Gopherus agassizii (Calif desert tortoises). I'd get brand new babies that had hatched in some man's back yard. So there's be 6 or 7 of them sometimes more and I would raise them until they were a year or older. Then they were legally adopted out. They are very fragile hatchlings so my job was to get them eating and active and on the right track for living. They are my favorite species. They are very special. I didn't keep track on how many I raised, over a hundred I guess. I was very successful, and then I got one clutch and everyone were soft. There were 6 of them and I did everything I knew to do and I gave it my best shot but when they were about 8 months old they died one by one. It was heart-wrenching for me. They all died in about a one month period.
There are many rules about breeding and hatching and raising. I didn't breed them, and I followed the rules but I don't agree with all of them. If they aren't bred and successfully raised in captivity pretty soon there just won't be any. There almost aren't any in the wild now. They are beautiful and fragile and shy tortoises, but the babies will eat out of my hand...they just touched my heart so...

 

[alfiethetortoise]

I remember reading a post about that on here a while ago.... i bet it was interesting to see what the kids thought of the issue! I love class debates . I think most children don't really understand about tortoises and turtles. My neice, age 3, loves Alfie. She will tell anyone who will listen the difference between a tortoise and a turtle! But I think a lot depends on the mannerisms of the children, and their exposure to them within their day to day life.

 

[Annieski]

My son is a Marine Artillary Officer and just spent a month in the Mojave for desert training. They have all been lectured on the plight of the CDT. If on happens to be spotted during a live-fire exercise, all fire must stop. If a CDT is found dead after training, the Unit responsible is fined[not sure of the amount, but I seem to remember him saying it was in the tens of thousands]. The vet told me[she is originally from Ca.] they should all be hibernating now for the winter. I still can't imagine what they must "hear" in their burrows.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Wow, now I have learned more than I knew before, which is what I was hoping for!

Maggie, those photos are just heartwarming. You must have felt a great sense of satisfaction being able to help the species by nurturing the hatchlings and finding good homes where they could thrive. I'm thinking that that's one of the species that Yvonne keeps now in her rescue?

And here's the kicker: I'm not SURE what the differences are between turtles and "land turtles"/tortoises. The main one, I think, is that turtles can swim and are mostly/always found near or in water, whereas most tortoises (except for Redfoot??) will drown if you put them in deep water. Am I right? What are the other main differences? I'm going to teach that same class today, so I'll be back to my computer in about an hour to see if there's any more info from the experts/experienced on this forum to take in with me today!

The kids tended to think that preserving wildlife was more important, but I raised the prospect of them having to lower their thermostat or not be able to use their video games or hair straighteners in a world where electric power is not automatically available, and then they wondered if a compromise may be in order. They're so funny because a lot of them truly have not yet given these heady matters much consideration (and they are, after all, only 9-11 years old), so I have to lead the discussion one way and then play devil's advocate by jumping to the other side. It's one of the reasons I love my job--I see their little wheels of intellect turning and churning as they discover new information and ideas.

[OT alert! My favorite 5th grade question, that I ask when we are doing the Kid version of National Geographic, is "What is the most successful predator on earth?" And I will get Tyrannosaurus, and Great White Shark and King Cobra and spiders and other very good guesses, and when I tell them "mankind" they have to take that in and process it a few seconds, and then the questions issue forth.

 

[Crazy1]

Differences between water turtles and land tortoises: by By Bob Strauss - eHow Contributing Writer

Instructions
1. Step 1
Turtles and tortoises belong to the same division of reptiles. Along with yet a third variant on the big-shell theme-terrapins-turtles and tortoises belong to a division of the reptile family called the "chelonians." Thanks to the vagaries of taxonomy, all tortoises (which occupy their own sub-classification of chelonians) are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.
2. Step 2
Turtles live in an aquatic environment. The average turtle spends most of its life in oceans, lakes or rivers, and it has evolved adaptations that reflect this lifestyle (for example, webbed feet with which it can swim more easily and a streamlined body). Usually, turtles only venture onto dry land when it's time to lay eggs-and when the eggs hatch, the baby turtles head straight to the water.
3. Step 3
Tortoises are primarily land-dwelling creatures. Because they don't have to be hydrodynamic, tortoises tend to be stumpier-looking than turtles, with stubby, strong legs and a more rounded body shape. Tortoises that live in hot climates usually stay underground during the day (remember, reptiles are cold-blooded and need to protect themselves from extreme temperatures).
4. Step 4
Terrapins are a kind of hybrid between turtles and tortoises. Like their cousins, the amphibians, terrapins spend equal amounts of time in the water and on land, and they can always be found in (or near) ponds, lakes and rivers. Terrapins are most often considered to be more closely related to turtles than to tortoises.


• Confusingly, different countries have different ways of referring to turtles and tortoises. In England, freshwater chelonians are called terrapins, while ocean-dwelling chelonians are called turtles (as they are in the U.S.). Things are even worse in Australia: only sea turtles are called turtles, while aquatic (but not sea-dwelling) chelonians are called tortoises. What we call "tortoises" in the U.S. don't exist in Australia, which has no land-dwelling chelonians. Got that?

Hope this helps.

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I got an article about three weeks ago out of our local paper Here in San Bernardino CA. “The Sun” the author of the article is John Weeks.

Tortoises may help speed up recovery.

A Northern CA energy company planning on building a huge solar energy plant in the north east San Bernardino County desert, not far from the Nevada state line, and county officials have been arguing about it as you might expect.

Some say the facility will bring new jobs and revenue to the county. Others say the plant is so close to prim, Nev., that Nevadans will poach most of the jobs and benefits.

Meanwhile, the developer itself, Oakland-based Bright-source Energy, has reached an agreement with the CA energy Commission as well as state and federal environmental regulators that call for it to relocate 25 CDT that would be threatened by the project. The relocation effort, which involves buying and preparing additional land, will cost $25 million dollars.

That works out to be a million per tortoise.

goes on to write (in his wit) This revelation prompts me to suggest that San Bernardino County should stop sweating the details of who is or isn’t going to benefit from the solar energy plant, and start re-imagining the possibilities here.

The money is too good. And the work is too easy. I mean. How hard can it be to move tortoises?

All we need to do is track them down, which should be a snap because they are so slow. And then because they are so valuable, we need to handle them very carefully. Very humanely , and we carry them to the transportation vehicles. We probably can afford a limousines, one the money starts rolling in. And then we need to place tortoises, right side up, into the limousines, and then perhaps give them a little something to eat, in order to make them more comf0ortable.

What do tortoises eat? Lettuce, I think.

And then it’s just a matter of moving them.

Then cashing our checks.

We certainly have plenty of places were we can accommodate tortoises. It’s a big county, after all.

Here’s one idea: There has been much discussion of moving county government operations from the current facility. Instead lets move the tortoises to the area the Government officials would be moved to its called Carousel Mall. It would make an enormous tortoise preserve. There is room there of thousands and thousands of tortoises. At 1 million bucks per head. We could be talking billions, even trillions, of dollars. In revenue.

And who knows? Word of our giant tortoise sanctuary may spread, and we eventually may be able to open it up to the public as a tourist attraction. That’s worth some extra bucks right there because we will sell tickets and souvenirs and snacks. (No, not turtle soup.)

If San Bernardino County doesn’t jump on this idea, maybe I’ll just grab it for myself. I probably have room for at least 25 desert tortoises in my own backyard. I’ll give them everything they need.

After all they’re worth $25 million. That’s a lot of lettuce.

Obviously the later of the article is a spoof. If he really knew what it takes to care for these animals or move them he would not be so witty. The plight of the last (around 500 +) tortoises to be moved was a disaster. Most were pedaled on by coyotes and a few found their way back to the military reserve a couple of hundred miles away. The CDT is endanger in the wild but not in captivity. Right now several biologists and the CTTC (California Turtle and tortoise club) are trying to set up a breeding program that would allow individuals to bred CDT and hand over the eggs to CFG (California Fish and Game) for incubation then when the juveniles are ready they would be released back into the wild by CFG. Before this could happen they tortoises must be genetically tested and can only breed within its own genetic group. Each Genetic grouping is within a specific territory and this must be preserved. So there you have it. Just a quick, small amount of information on these wonderful animal. Hope this gives you things to discuss and bring to your students to get their minds wondering and maybe we will get some Tortoise enthusiasts out of the bunch.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you, Robyn. Man-o-man...give the girl a few days off and she jumps back in like gang busters!!

 

[dmmj]

I think CTD's have such a high mortality rate IMHO becuase I think there is a lot of inbreeding going on in people's backyards.

 

[chadk]

Robyn - another thing to add to the confusion... Box turtles. They would fit in the definition of tort above for the most part. And clearly there is confusion in the general public, as I see them listed on CL as 'Box Tortoises' at times...

I think someone listed this once - and it is pretty good: Look at the back legs\feet... Elephant feet = Tortoise. Web feet = turtle. Then boxies are on their own still... (as turtles)

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Wow, thanks everyone! So much good info, I am going to print this off so I will have Robyn's excellent list handy.

At the very least, the 4-5 class at Carl Sandburg Elementary know that Tortoises and Turtles are not the same thing...and I told the kids that if they ever "find" one (as my kids once did) to make sure to get it to a Rescue if they can't locate the owner and NOT let it wander around outside, as the creature will die from cold or predation.

We only got a wee bit of time to talk today, when one of them asked about my tortoise and what kind of pet she made.