Today I received notice that I was awarded a Wildlife Diversity Small Grant from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks to survey for the state-endangered Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum). Within South Dakota, the Lined Snake was thought to occur only in habitats along the Big Sioux River watershed, until I collected a specimen was collected near the James River in Hutchinson County in October 2017. This recently collected snake represents the most northwestern occurrence for this species, provides evidence that populations of Lined Snakes may exist outside of the Big Sioux River watershed, and suggests that the distribution of Lined Snakes in South Dakota may be greater than expected. To better understand the distribution and occurrence of Lined Snakes in southeastern South Dakota, I proposed to conduct a series of targeted surveys for Lined Snakes along the lower James River valley.

Grant Title: Surveys for the state-endangered Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum) along the lower James River Valley

Lined Snake distribution map from http://www.sdherps.org.