27
from three camera installations located in the Rossland Range in British Columbia, totaling 7.1 percent or our
overall effort with 778 trap nights (Table 10, Figure 7). Our partners in B.C. have detected Canada lynx consistently
each monitoring year since 2015, though not during the monitoring season in 2018. Our program compliments
larger efforts of those researching the transboundary Canada lynx population. We look forward to receiving
updates from our collaborators at Washington State University researching the Canada lynx population in
Washington state, and researchers at Selkirk College working on better understanding the lynx population within
the B.C. Kettle and Rossland mountain ranges.
While no lynx were detected, species of note include gray wolves at the Kettle River Range and Sherman Pass
survey areas (Table 11). Detected from cameras in the Kettle River Range were a trio and a pair of wolves travelling
together. Other detections were of single wolves. There are 17 confirmed packs in the Eastern Washington
recovery region, making the likelihood of detecting wolf much higher than elsewhere in Washington state.
Table 11. Number of detection events by species at lynx survey areas.
Species Detection Events at Canada Lynx Survey Areas 2018
Species Priority Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Survey Area Wolf
Mountain
Lion
Bobcat
Black
Bear
Coyote
White
Tail
Deer
Mule
Deer
Moose
Domestic
Cow
Striped
Skunk
Snowshoe
Hare &
Smaller
Mammals
Human
Domestic
Dog
Kettle River
Range
4 4 6 11 15 8 2 1 45 19
Rossland Range
2 6 9 11 1 85
Sherman Pass
1 2 3 3 20 1 13 68 6 145 1 1
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE MONITORING
At the end of each season, we reflect on lessons learned as we begin the process of planning for the next one.
Information and guidance from volunteers, project advisers, project partners and project staff helps us identify
the best practices for remote camera monitoring in Washington. These recommendations improve the efficacy,
efficiency and power of our work.
Our goals for the 2019 remote camera monitoring season are to:
1. Assess monitoring efforts for grizzly bears and other rare carnivores in the North Cascades Ecosystem.
Evaluate volunteers' and teams' ability and commitment to long, arduous, off-trail navigation and site
access, and commitment to retrieving these cameras. Continue to develop research relationships within
the North Cascades National Park.
2. For wolverine sites with frequent target-species detections, establish alternate teams that can assist in
maintaining a site in order to increase the likelihood of collecting viable genetic samples. We continue to
