Conservation Northwest

Getting wilder wildlife Connectivity Jen Watkins Conservation associate, jen@conservationnw.org Staying connected in a changing world Wildlife are often on the move, following the changing seasons and looking for food, mates, and new habitat. "Connectivity" for wildlife demands that we maintain links between habitats and resources. By studying how animals move today and how they have moved in the past, we can best select and protect connecting lands to help wildlife survive and weather climate change. "The story of our age is nature going to pieces. Nature won't work in pieces, not even those we've made special efforts to safeguard. The future of wildlife is tied to its freedom to roam." –Doug Chadwick, The Wolverine Way At Conservation Northwest, we are driven not only to protect the best of what is left from the Washington Coast to the BC Rockies, but to ensure that we maintain a connected network of protected areas so that wildlife can move within and between them. Our thinking for wildlife is not unique. It's what every person lives by when evaluating a new house in a new neighborhood. We need useful pathways connecting our homes to schools, stores, community, and other amenities—or the property is worth little. Similarly, a hard-fought-for wild area maintains its value for wildlife only if it is not an island. To ensure we were all working with the best available science to guide wildlife conservation and connectivity in our region, in 2008 we helped form the Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group. The first goal of its members—which include scientists and others from state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and tribes—was to develop a collaborative blueprint for wildlife connectivity in Washington and neighboring habitats. Last year, the Connectivity Working Group published a statewide connectivity analysis of wildlife in Washington. Wolverines (Gulo gulo) were one of the wildlife featured in the analysis, and also the animal that inspired biologist and author Doug Chadwick to write, "The future of wildlife is tied to its freedom to roam." The small and recovering population Linkage zones for wolverines. Green is of wolverines in habitat concentration area; yellow, red, and Washington state blue are normalized least-cost corridors. has already shown WWHCWG, from their statewide habitat connectivity analysis wolverines' tremendous ability and need to move. A fiercely independent female wolverine named Sasha was followed with a radio tag by the PNW Research Station in 2009. Sasha traveled a home range of 578 square miles, spanning from just north of Lake Wenatchee State Park nearly to Washington Pass. For the analysis, species and connectivity experts in the Connectivity Working Group used models to map the highest quality habitats, hoping to build our understanding of how to keep connected a network of habitats to continue the recovery of wolverines and other wildlife in the Northwest. The models were then used to identify the paths of least resistance for wildlife to move between these habitats. The colorful map above includes a wealth of information to guide management and conservation. It shows where the greatest opportunities—and barriers—exist to give wolverines room to roam. On close inspection you'll see the clear need to maintain the north-south connections of "green" high quality habitat in the Cascade Mountains, while noting the barriers between these habitats from highways, like Interstate 90 and Highway 2. The colorful connections the model makes between green areas indicate the relevant ease of different pathways between the high quality habitats. These linkages show that wolverine survival is strongly dependent on British Columbia and what happens there for management and conservation. In the statewide connectivity analysis, the Connectivity Working Group modeled sixteen focal species, from pine martens to sharp-tailed grouse to mule deer, which together represent all the major habitat types in Washington. We also ran a model to display how we can best maintain connections between the most natural landscapes remaining in our region. Each of these maps and models on their own and in comparison tell a conservation story of our age. We must decide how we leave nature not in pieces—but keep it whole, connected, and functioning. Connectivity models, maps, and links to an online interactive map gallery are available at the Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group website, www.waconnected.org 16 Fall 2011www.conservationnw.org

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