Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for January–March 2026
Partners in Restoration: Repairing Mountain Bogs with help from an American Conservation Experience Crew
by Gabrielle Graeter, Conservation Biologist / Herpetologist and Rosie Ronca, Herpetologist Technician
I n September 2024, western North Carolina sustained immea- surable damage due to Hurricane Helene, a tropical cyclone that brought destructive flooding, winds, and landslides to the area. This unprecedented storm caused significant damage to our natural resources, including large impacts on mountain bogs via erosion, sedimentation, and flooding. Mountain bogs are a unique wetland ecosystem in the Southern Appalachian Moun- tains that hosts an incredibly biodiverse plant and animal com- munity and they are considered rare due to centuries of habitat loss and degradation. One such animal is the Bog Turtle (Glypte- mys muhlenbergii), a state (T) and federally (T(S/A) listed spe- cies identified as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in NC’s Wildlife Action Plan. Throughout 2025, our team worked tire- lessly with the help of volunteers, NCWRC staff, and conserva- tion partners to address these impacts. Despite our efforts and over 420 hours of effort, the impacts are still evident in our bogs, with some areas not providing suitable habitat for the turtles due to excessive sedimentation and impacts to wetland hydrology. To continue addressing the negative impacts of Hurricane Helene on these mountain bogs, we partnered with the American Conservation Experience (ACE) to bring a highly trained and motivated, conservation-minded work crew to our most damaged bogs. In March 2026, the contracted ACE crew removed sedi- ment, installed small log sills by hand to restore eroded areas and improve hydrology, and removed trash and other debris that was washed into the bog during the storm. This work occurred at two bogs in northwestern North Carolina across 12 days, though
most of the effort (10 days) was put into one site that required extensive restoration. At site A, the ACE crew put in almost 60 hours of work to restore habitat. Most of their time was spent removing sediment from approximately 190 m 2 and installing 15 log sills to help address erosion and maintain suitable wetland hydrology. In addition, to improve habitat conditions, they treated a non-native invasive plant species, multiflora rose, and cleared approximately 40 m 2 of tag alders. At site B, the crew installed 11 log sills to get the water to spread out and re-establish more areas with high quality wetland habitat. As they were installing logs sills, they also cut several trees, primarily tulip poplars and Virginia pine, to stop water uptake and maintain an open canopy wetland. This restoration work by our team and the ACE crew is part of an ongoing goal to take a step beyond simply restoring these bogs to their former state by building more resilience into them so they can better withstand future flooding events. An intact wet- land provides significant ecosystem services during a major storm event like Helene by holding, slowing, and absorbing flood water, thereby lessening negative storm impacts downstream. However, due to decades of habitat degradation that has been compounded by severe storms like Helene, many of these unique mountain bogs need additional help to build that resiliency. This habitat support will also help to ensure that the bog turtles in these populations, which are in decline and at risk of extirpation, can access suitable habitat to survive, reproduce, and grow in the coming decades.
Left: Members of the ACE work crew work to remove sediment from a bog using shovels and buckets. They re- moved sediment from approximately 190 m 2 of primary habitat that was impacted by severe sedimentation during the flooding associated with Hurricane Helene. Right: ACE crew members installed 26 log sills across two sites to restore hydrology and ensure ground water stays in the bog systems for as long as possible. This crew member is working to install a log sill on the right, with a previously installed log sill to his left.
GABRIELLE GRAETER/NCWRC
GABRIELLE GRAETER/NCWRC
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