7
focus on documenting and collecting genetic information from Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis).
WOLF MONITORING
Since 2008, when this program's remote cameras documented the first wolf pups born in Washington in more
than 70 years, Conservation Northwest has played a major role in wolf recovery in Washington. As of December
2018, Washington is home to 27 confirmed wolf packs. WDFW released their Washington Gray Wolf Conservation
and Management 2018 Annual Report to reflect the state's most up-to-date wolf count, with a minimum of 126
wolves calling Washington state home at the end of 2018
3
, though some estimates put this number higher,
around 150 individuals in Washington State
4
. In addition to shaping wolf policy in Washington and leading the
Range Rider Pilot Project, through the CWMP, Conservation Northwest carries out monitoring efforts. The results
of these efforts are used to better understand the distribution of wolves across the state and guide ongoing
conservation efforts. The Wolf Conservation and Management Plan identifies three recovery zones in
Washington: Eastern Washington, the North Cascades, and the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast.
5
According to this plan, wolves will be considered recovered in the state of Washington if there are 15 successful
breeding pairs for three consecutive years, geographically distributed across the three regions. Additionally, each
recovery zone must have at least four breeding pairs for three consecutive years. In 2018, the CWMP focused the
majority of its wolf monitoring efforts on detection south of I-90 in the state's designated Southern Cascades and
Northwest Coast Recovery Zone. Installations were located in areas of predicted high-quality wolf habitat or in
response to specific anecdotal reports of potential wolf activity within these recovery zones. As of December 31,
2018, none of Washington's 27 wolf packs have been documented in the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast
recovery zone.
WOLVERINE MONITORING
Wolverines are the largest terrestrial members of the weasel family and are among the rarest carnivores in North
America.
6
They prefer alpine and subalpine environments where snow packs persist into late spring. Perhaps
because they live in these harsh environments where food is scarce, wolverines are extremely mobile carnivores
with large home ranges between 100 km² to more than 900 km². This means they typically live in low densities
across large landscapes.
7
After near eradication from the lower 48 states in the early 1900's, wolverines have
3
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Confederated Colville Tribes, Spokane Tribe of Indians, USDA -
APHIS Wildlife Services, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2019. Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and
Management 2018 Annual Report. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ellensburg, WA,
USA.https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02062, Accessed April 2019.
4
https://www.conservationnw.org/news-updates/senate-wolves-in-washington/ January 2019.
5
Gary J. Wiles, Harriet L. Allen, and Gerald E. Hayes, Wolf Conservation and Management Plan: State of Washington
(Olympia, WA, USA: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, December 2011).
6
Keith B. Aubry, Kevin S. Mckelvey, and Jeffrey P. Copeland, "Distribution and Broadscale Habitat Relations of the
Wolverine in the Contiguous United States," Journal of Wildlife Management 71, no. 7 (2007): 2147, doi:10.2193/2006-
548.; Vivian Banci, "Wolverine," in The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores: American Marten, Fisher, Lynx,
and Wolverine in the Western United States., ed. Leonard F. Ruggiero et al. (Fort Collins, Colorado, USA: USDA Forest
Service Technical Report, 1994), 99–127.
7
Banci, Vivian. "Wolverine." In The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores: American Marten, Fisher, Lynx,
