IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP OUR NATIVE BOX TURTLES, AN ANCIENT AND GENTLE SPECIES, AVOID  EXTINCTION, PLEASE ENCOURAGE THE PENNSYLVANIA FISH & BOAT COMMISSION TO BAN BOX TURTLE COLLECTING BY WRITING TO: Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission Attn:  Delano Graff, Director & Andrew Shiels, Endangered Species Unit 450 Robinson Lane Bellefont, PA  16823-9620 Please mention the following points in your communication: There is reliable evidence of the decline and disappearance of box turtle populations. All species of this genus have been afforded strict international protection by the 1994 CITES treaty. Border states, New York, New Jersey and Ohio have long prohibited box turtle collection.  PA is remarkable in its weak conservation of the box turtle. Box turtles rely on high population densities in small areas to sustain their populations. Attempts to artificially repopulate former habitats reveal the probable impossibility of restabilizing and repatriating extirpated turtle populations. Captured box turtles often die in captivity.  Their homing instinct propels dispersaal from unfamiliar habitat if they are released after collection. Dispersal of box turtles after collection can spread disease.