Sprawl along the East Coast has already fragmented the landscape so much, they say, that the last chance to preserve habitat is here in Maine's southern counties. The Mount Agamenticus area, for example, is the largest contiguous block of forest land in southern Maine. The area is home to the state's greatest concentration of Blanding's turtles, an endangered turtle with a long neck and a bulging shell that looks like German WW I helmet. They live as long as 70 years and migrate among wetlands and nest in uplands, which are sometimes thousands of feet from the nearest wetland. The biggest threat to the turtles, besides loss of wetlands, comes from roads, deMaynadier said.
Roads fragment their traditional migratory routes, and bring cars, which kill turtles.
Cars also bring people who take Blanding's turtles home for pets. Fewer than 300 now live in the Mount Agamenticus area. Some common species, such as the wood thrush, also prefer large blocks of forest, deMaynadier said. It makes for a wonderful American dream, but it really fragments the environment. It divides up the last continuous blocks of forest.