Humans make a new home for salamanders

PINEY RIVER -- There's an eerie silence at the edge of the quarry, where barren rock meets the forest's end.

About 20 feet back, under a canopy of willow oaks and red maples, lies the breeding ground of one of Virginia's rarest amphibians: the mole salamander.

In 15 to 20 years, as the Boxley Materials Co. mines rock for sidewalks and roads, the quarry edges in Nelson County will extend into the forest, swallowing the wetlands where the salamanders reproduce.

Destroying the wetlands doesn't sit well with leaders at Boxley, a Roanoke-based company whose site in Piney River is one of 15 locations in the state with reproducing populations of mole salamanders.

"Being environmentally friendly is one of our visions. It's part of what drives us as a business," said Donald Barricks, superintendent of the Piney River location.

Nor does it sit well with a pair of scientists: Mike Hayslett, a conservation biologist from Sweet Briar College, and Tom Biebighauser, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

The mole salamander is designated a "species of special concern," according to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Though it isn't endangered, it could become so because of population decline or loss of habitat.

In September 2007, the biologists joined forces with the industrial company to build a new wetlands outside the range of quarry expansion.

Boxley contributed thousands of dollars worth of equipment and manpower, while Hayslett and Biebighauser provided scientific expertise.

Two years later, the man-made wetlands is teeming with life, and more importantly, it has been accepted by the mole salamander as a place to breed.

"It wasn't a shock, but it was still such a pleasant surprise," said Hayslett, who likes to refer to the mole salamanders simply as "the moles," not to be confused with their furry namesakes.

"The moles have accepted this, they've reproduced, and we got our first generation within six, seven months of construction."

With the first man-made wetlands a success, Hayslett is spearheading phase two of the project. He completed another wetlands this fall, near a patch of woods by Boxley's office, and plans to introduce salamander eggs to its water this winter.

The second phase poses new challenges.

Salamanders are picky about where they will breed.

For the most recent wetlands, which is about a mile away from the natural pools, Hayslett will have to artificially introduce salamander eggs into its waters. Salamanders won't naturally make the trek there because it's too far and dangerous.

Next spring, if nature allows it, Hayslett will see the first batch of tadpoles.

Liz Barry is a staff writer for the News & Advance of Lynchburg.