(bird singing) - [Laura] I love wetlands.

Just walking through a wetland, especially on a quiet day and just being a part of something that's truly wild is something that's pretty unique and not many people get to experience that.

- [Reporter] Laura Guderyahn is watershed restoration coordinator for the city of Gresham.

- A lot of our wetlands are gone.

A lot of our flood plains that used to run alongside our creeks and flood are pretty much gone a lot due to just development and urban centers growing.

So wetlands are are pretty rare.

- [Reporter] In fact, Oregon has lost more than half of the wetlands that existed here when the first settlers arrived.

This wetland is one of the few remaining in the Portland metro area and also where Laura made an unexpected discovery in 2007.

- You know, the first time we saw the first turtle was that double take, was that really an, yeah.

Okay, that's a turtle.

And then it was, okay, what kind of turtle?

- [Reporter] What Laura found was a western painted turtle, one of Oregon's two native turtle species.

- Hey.

Looks like we have at least three, one big adult female.

Painted turtles got their name because they look like somebody painted them with a paint paintbrush.

- [Reporter] The yellow stripes that decorate the turtle's legs, neck and tail, as well as the bright orange patterns on the undercarriage, or plastron, are unique to each individual.

But what's really striking is how rare this particular population may be.

- [Laura] We've been told by Oregon Fish and Wildlife that this is the last urban population east of the Willamette.

It's very rare to have a big healthy population of native turtles like this, especially inside an urban core.

It's pretty important and pretty special.

(geese squawking) Being a species that's state listed, that's critical, that we need more data on, so every spring, we come out and do a pretty intensive trapping survey.

- [Reporter] Surveys like these help determine just how vulnerable these turtles are.

- [Laura] And this one it looks like already has notches.

So I know that I've seen him before in his lifetime.

- [Reporter] Laura finds the turtle's catalog number by counting notches she's made earlier on the scutes or bony plates that make up his shell.

- The turtle shell is like a soccer ball.

They have all these different divisions and sections, and each section or division is called a scute.

So he's number 93.

- [Reporter] Recording weight and size helps track the turtle's growth throughout what can be a 30-year lifespan.

- [Laura] Say, this one's kind of big.

- [Reporter] Mature females, like this one, can weigh nearly three pounds and lay hundreds of eggs over a lifetime.

So far, Laura has cataloged about 100 turtles, and she still comes across new ones.

- Oh, and this one's got extra scutes too.

This is a good one.

- [Reporter] The new turtle's body markings are recorded.

- [Laura] There's an extra scute here and over here.

32-60.

- [Reporter] And her shell is notched for future identification.

- The shell is made of bone, but it's covered with a keratin, just like your fingernails, but it doesn't hurt.

At most, it's a mild vibration.

- [Reporter] After three years, Laura's survey reveals a healthy robust turtle population due to good water quality, a relatively large habitat, and a supportive community.

- [John] You wanna set this up?

Make sure you get it over the nest.

- [Reporter] Like Laura, John Wolf and his daughter Jolie were surprised to learn of their unusual neighbors.

- We actually had a couple turtles come through the backyard and make a nest.

We had no idea there were even any turtles around in this area.

We called the wildlife person that we found in the yellow pages, and Laura was put in contact with us, and with her help we were able to protect that nest, and we keep track of the babies that are released.

- [Reporter] It turns out that the wolf's backyard is prime turtle nesting habitat.

- So each one of these baskets represents a nest.

Each one of these nests is marked with a tag of the number of the female turtle that made the nest and the date the nest was made.

And so they're protected under here until they start to hatch.

- [Reporter] And until they do, Jolie Wolf is keeping an eye on things.

- We've had like 17 nests, and pretty much each nest has like about 10 eggs.

I'd go check every nest and see if any turtles are in there.

And then we'll check out with our binoculars, and we'll be like, "Oh, there's a turtle!"

And then go call Laura and say, "Oh, we got a turtle."

- [Reporter] What Laura does with the hatchlings next might surprise you.

- [Laura] We found them on a cold rainy day.

When they first come out of the nest, their shells are very soft and rubbery, and they need to be able to bask in the sun for them to harden up and be less susceptible to predators.

So I brought them back to my office to do that.

(bird singing) - [Reporter] On the next sunny day, the hatchlings are ready for release.

- Watch out for the blackberry.

You want them to be able to bask right away in the nice sunshine in order to metabolize food and fight disease and things that they might have collected in the nest.

So releasing them on a nice sunny day is really optimal for their health.

- [Jolie] Whoa!

- [Laura] And then maybe set the turtles down kind of in the grass over here or something.

So very carefully, just kind of pick 'em up by their shell, the sides of their shell, and then just set 'em in the water, and they'll swim away.

- It's trying to get outta my hands.

- [John] You got a good one.

Oh yeah, he's big.

- [Laura] Go ahead and release it like right over there.

- [Parent] Remember the rule about not falling in.

You're a pro with this now.

- Cool, huh?

- Awesome.

- [John] Not too many people in this area are very aware of these turtles even being here.

And with Laura's help, we've been able to open people's eyes to some of the wildlife that's right underneath our noses and help to protect them and maybe bring their numbers back up if we can.

- They're staying social, they're just hanging out, trying to figure out what's going on.

- [John] To have my daughter alongside at nine years old helping the restoration of this area is a real nice thing.

- It's fun.

I tell my friends at school, I've told my teachers about it, I've written stories about it, and they're like, "Oh, that's cool."

And so they started learning about it.

- Good job.

The members of the community here are definitely helping to preserve the species.

Just their awareness and just knowing how special it is to have this population right here in their backyards has done a lot.

- There we go.

- Perfect, nicely done!

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