Native Oregon turtles get federal review for protection

Published 6:05 am Monday, April 20, 2015

PORTLAND (AP) — Western pond turtles — a species native to Oregon — will be getting a one-year federal review for possible protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Oregonian newspaper reports the turtles are considered a sensitive/critical species under Oregon’s Conservation Strategy because of a declining population.

The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity reports there are two groups of the turtles in the Columbia Gorge and numbers in the Willamette Valley have dropped to 1 percent of historic levels.

A recent survey of 15 sites in Clackamas County found no sign of the western pond turtle.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife conservation biologist Susan Barnes called that “moderately alarming.”