During road improvements in Muskoka, more than 1,100 turtles will get to hatch. The District of Muskoka says crews completed road construction on Twelve Mile Bay Road and as a result of the project, of those 1,100 turtles, four different turtle species are now protected. Twelve Mile Bay Road serves as a strong habitat for turtles, reptiles and other wildlife, as it runs through more than 18 kilometres of ecosystem and wetlands. Officials moved turtles and animals away from construction zones, collected turtle eggs, checked ditches for wildlife before road work was done, relocated milkweed and monarch butterflies and relocated plants like sweetgrass and cedar, which are important to some cultures. The District says once environmental teams moved the turtle eggs from the work zones, they transported them to an incubation facility. As they begin hatching, they get released back into their habitat where the eggs were found. “This partnership shows how infrastructure work and environmental protection can work together,” the District says in a release on their website. The work was through a collaboration between Moose Deer Point First Nation, Generations Effect and the District Municipality of Muskoka.
