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[Terrapin Institute-Station USNA]

Terrapin Institute-Station USNA

August 23, 2003 at 11:39 pm #18827

State Reptile Feels the Ax Maryland_s money-saving recipe makes soup of terrapins Just a few days after her job was abolished at Maryland_s Department of Natural Resources, Marguerite Whilden and her terrapins set out on their own _ with a little help from her friends, son and __turtle lackey__ Angus and longtime volunteer Tom Newquist. The 50-year-old Whilden was one of eight Natural Resources employees who lost their jobs to the Board of Public Works decree carrying out Gov. Robert Ehrlich_s decision last month to cut $208 million in state spending. After 30 years with the Department of Natural Resources, Whilden was told that her Fisheries Service assignment is now deemed __non-mission critical.__ Yet the Department is mandated to conserve fishery species and habitat, she_ s quick to remind, and the Northern diamondback terrapin she conserves is not only fished commercially but also distinguised. It_s the Maryland State Reptile. Whilden conceived Terrapin Station in 1998 as part of a project to reach out to bring people into discussion of the __full range of fisheries management issues.__ The diamondback, __an esoteric little creature that spread the fame of the Chesapeake Bay around the world, is the heart of the Fisheries Service Conservation and Stewardship programs,__ according to DNR_s website. Now, Whilden is hearing that her job was __just__ outreach and education, which is a fine thing she says _ though __I always avoided that emphasis.__ She says her goal is to conserve and inspire stewardship, encouraging public support and involvement in conservation. By introducing people to creatures, she hoped wildlife would __get into their psyches.__ The diamondback terrapin is particularly suited to such psychic burrowing. Whilden calls it the buffalo of the Bay, explaining that, like the buffalo, the turtle is an icon of nature and historic abundance. And like the buffalo, today the terrapin needs protection to survive. Terrapin flesh was savored by Native American Algonquians, who are said to have given the reptile its name. It was also eaten copiously by colonists. The once-abundant reptile was overharvested in Maryland as early as 1900. Not so long ago, terrapin conservation was riding high. Former Gov. Parris Glendening first set up a Governor_s task force __to ensure the survival of the state reptile__ and then announced a long term of conservation and habitat restoration. The University of Maryland agreed to donate to terrapin research a portion of proceeds from its Fear the Turtle mascot merchandizing campaign. To Whilden_s delight, she says, schoolchildren proved they, too, could be good stewards. They collected turtle eggs that would otherwise be lost to predation and, in classrooms across the state, incubated eggs and nurtured and monitored hatchlings. The students easily wooed state delegates by bringing their turtles to the State House in Annapolis. Virginia Clagett, later named to the Terrapin Conservation Task Force, was one of those delegates. __Why do we want to lessen up on this terrapin rescue? It just doesn_t make sense. The terrapin is Maryland_s icon, and Marguerite Whilden has been the guiding light and a major, major force in pulling all the sides together and keeping this program going forward,__ said Clagett of the firing. Whilden also took students to visit Ehrlich, who was then a congressman. __We were treated like royalty,__ she says. __I can_t imagine he_s taken leave of his senses now.__ Maybe the problem is that terrapin conservation was a favorite program of Glendening. Maryland_s first diamondback terrapin nesting sanctuary on public lands near Crisfield was named for the former governor. Since the change of administration last January, Natural Resouces has ignored the recommendations of the Governor_s Terrapin Task Force, Whilden says. Still, Whilden, who calls herself __a lifelong Republican,__ says she __has no idea where this comes from. __I support the governor,__ she says. __But I do think this was a dumb decision. I think they_re setting the governor up as careless, and I don_t think he is.__ Indeed, she adds, __If I were given an opportunity, I_d keep the governor better advised.__ Now, on her first day as a private-sector terrapin conservationist, Whilden introduces her two fine specimens as Kendel and Bob. _ M.L. Faunce

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