The Sandhills Prairie Refuge Association will be helping Valentine National Wildlife Refuge repair the fences along Highway 83 that reduce road kill of turtles on June 16th. How much they can help depends on contributions from our members and other volunteers. When the section of US Highway 83 passing through Valentine National Wildlife Refuge was upgraded, fences to reduce road kill of Blanding’s turtles were installed along the road. The Blanding’s is a long lived turtle that is rare in many places but fairly common on the refuge. It has been quite a few years since the fences were put in and they are in need of repair in places. Erosion and cars running off the road have damaged them.
On Saturday, June 19th, meet at the National Park Service Office on west Highway 20 in Valentine at 9:00 AM to carpool to the work site. They will return around 3:00 PM. Bring shovels, fence pliers, and orange safety vests if you have them ,and some will be provided. The Sandhills Prairie Refuge Association will provide a sack lunch and drinks. Please RSVP at sandhillspra@gmail.com or call 402-389-1843 so they can get a lunch count.