Size: 64 acres
Location: Skamania County, WA
Acquired: 2015

Turtle Haven is a 64-acre property in the Western Gorge, nestled between Dog Mountain and Wind Mountain and bordered by U.S. Forest Service land. The preserve is characterized by its rich biodiversity, featuring mixed deciduous forests, permanent ponds, seasonal pools, intermittent streams, and the year-round flow of Collin’s Creek, making it a vital wildlife haven.

The property encompasses diverse habitat types, including ponds and wetlands, stream and riparian corridors, open meadows, and west-side conifer forests. What truly sets Turtle Haven apart is its population of the Washington state-endangered northwestern pond turtle. Friends, in partnership with The Oregon Zoo, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Forest Service, has been actively involved in monitoring the turtles, enhancing their habitat, managing captive rearing programs for juvenile turtles, and removing invasive American bullfrogs that prey on the young turtles. The Oregon painted turtle, along with various amphibians, songbirds, and mammals, also calls Turtle Haven home.

Friends plans to transfer ownership of Turtle Haven to the U.S. Forest Service while continuing to support the property’s long-term management and preservation efforts. Since acquiring the land, Friends has been working to remove old buildings, vehicles, and debris to further improve the habitat for the turtles.

  • The Oregonian: Inside the secret preserve that’s bringing baby turtles back to the Columbia Gorge (Read)
  • Columbia Insight: Can native turtles in the Gorge be saved? (Read)