John D. Groves

Using Trail Cameras to Assess Recreation in Hellbender Streams of North Carolina National Forests

SEAFWA Journal Volume 7, March 2020

Each year the number of recreational visitors to southeastern national forests increases which brings new challenges for wildlife managers related to visitor activity and their potential effects of visitors on natural resources. This increasing visitation and recreation may affect species inhab-iting streams if these habitats are modified by visitors. North Carolina includes some of the last stable populations of a fully aquatic salamander, the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis). Few studies have assessed instream recreation (e.g., fishing, tubing, swimming)...

Engaging North Carolina's Trout Anglers and Other Stakeholders to Help Conserve Eastern Hellbenders

SEAFWA Journal Volume 6, March 2019

The eastern hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) is a protected species of concern in North Carolina as well as in several other states. Despite long-term efforts by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and cooperating partners to improve understanding of hellbender status in the state, census of all known and potential populations is lacking. The species’ dependence upon clean, cold, well-oxygenated water restricts its distribution to North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Ecoregion, overlapping much of the state’s trout fishery. This overlap...