The Selkirk Mountains
Tucked in the far
northeast corner
of Washington, the
Selkirk Mountains
are arguably the
most wildlife-rich
pocket of the state.
Compared to the
dry western edge of
the Colville National
Hall Mountain. © Aaron Theisen
Forest in the Kettle Range, which
receives as little as 10 inches of moisture a year, more than 50 inches
of precipitation soak the Selkirk Mountains—the wettest location in
eastern Washington.
Here, old-growth western redcedar and western hemlock dominate
a lush understory of devil's club, ferns, and mosses. The Selkirks
are one of the last remaining refuges for grizzly bears in the lower
48 states and host to the only remaining mountain caribou in the
lower 48. Moose and elk are plentiful, and gray wolves have recently
returned on their own to territory they once roamed for millennia.
Lynx (Lynx canadensis)
© Don Getty
Wildlife Viewing & Recreation Guide
~Final_Draft_Guide.indd 19
The rarest of three cat species native to Washington, Canada lynx have large paws and long
legs that allow them to pad over deep snow.
Lynx prey almost exclusively on the snowshoe
hare, but they also eat red squirrels, small mammals, birds, and carrion. The cats are most at
home in boreal forests but favor develped subalpine forests like those found in the mountains
of north-central and northeastern Washington
such as the eastern slopes of the Kettle Crest.
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