Opportunity for Yamhill County Landowners: Surveys for Native Western Pond Turtles

Ecologist and PhD student, Laura Guderyahn, is seeking local private landowners in Yamhill County for participating in free, no-obligation surveys of native western pond turtles.

Yamhill County has the fewest documented reports of turtles in the Lower Willamette watershed, impeding conservation of this species in this area of its range.  Using a combination of visual encounter surveys and hands-on trapping, biologist Laura Guderyahn is leading a team of community volunteers to map where turtles live.

“We’ll be looking for turtles on public and tribal lands throughout Yamhill County, but to get a more complete picture of where they live, we’re hoping a few Yamhill County residents will allow us to survey their private property,” Guderyahn said.

“We’re looking for properties with streams, wetlands or ponds that are a quarter-acre or larger in size.”

Yamhill County residents who wish to include their property in the turtle survey can fill out a short webform at oregonzoo.org/yamhill-county-turtle-survey.   Guderyahn hopes data collected through this project will help local land managers improve habitat and wildlife connectivity throughout the watershed. Landowners who have confirmed native turtles using their property may be eligible for restoration and land improvement funding.