Conservation Northwest

2014-2015 CWMP WINTER FIELD SEASON REPORT

Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies, vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989, Conservation Northwest has worke

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3 | P a g e recorded no high priority species this winter. The project identified one species previously undetected in past years—aplodontia (Aplodontia rufa), a relatively common species expected in the subalpine habitat found in parts of the study area. The results of our continued assessment of the observer reliability of our team leaders matches years past, continuing to suggest that field identification of tracks and signs has a high degree of accuracy. In previous years, data from winter remote camera monitoring has also been reported in our 2014-2015 Winter Monitoring Report. However, this year to create more continuity and robustness of the program, all remote camera data will be reported on an annual cycle. The 2015 Remote Camera Monitoring Report will be made available in early 2016. PROJECT OVERVIEW The Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project (CWMP) is a joint project of Conservation Northwest (a conservation and advocacy group), I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition (a group of organizations focused on advocating for infrastructure improvements included in the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project and designed to improve habitat), and the Wilderness Awareness School (an environmental education organization). CWMP uses trained volunteers to monitor the presence, location, and movement of wildlife in the vicinity of proposed wildlife crossing sites east of Snoqualmie Pass along Interstate 90 in the Washington Cascades, and elsewhere in Washington State. CWMP uses remote cameras and snow tracking to document rare and sensitive species throughout core areas, providing security habitat for rarer wildlife, as well as more common species in strategically important locations. Since its inception, CWMP has remained an asset to wildlife agencies and professionals by providing additive monitoring efforts in areas identified as potential core habitat for some of our region's rarest wildlife. Our main project objectives are: 1. To engage and educate citizens on wildlife species and monitoring in critical habitat areas; 2. To record wildlife presence in the I-90 corridor and along the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project in strategic locations and in core habitat through remote cameras and snow tracking; 3. To record the presence of rare and sensitive species that regional and national conservation efforts aim to recover including fisher, gray wolf, grizzly bear, lynx, and wolverine; 4. To facilitate exchange of information on wildlife, including data from monitoring efforts, between public agencies, organizations, and interested individuals.

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