11
information on individuals outside of ongoing agency research in the Cascade Mountains.
Our major objectives for 2016 lynx monitoring in British Columbia were to 1) document the presence of lynx in the
transboundary Kettle River Range between British Columbia and Washington and 2) collect genetic data from hair
snags placed at each remote camera installation to increase our understanding of lynx in this area, and their
relation to adjacent, better-studied lynx populations in the Rockies and Cascade Mountains.
In the fall of 2016, we collaborated with Lui Marinelli and students from Selkirk College in British Columbia, who
maintained three lynx monitoring installations in Rossland Range, BC. These cameras, installed in October of
2016, are currently active on the landscape. Additionally, our project volunteers installed and maintained eleven
camera installations on the Washington side of the border. Through our program, we hope to provide support and
to supplement a larger lynx monitoring effort being established by our partners with Washington State University
in 2017.
METHODOLOGY
CWMP is an entirely volunteer-based project supported by Conservation Northwest staff, interns, and other
project partners. Though our winter monitoring season includes snow tracking techniques along I-90, the majority
of our work is accomplished through the use of remote, motion-triggered cameras. The use of motion-triggered
cameras represents an easy and verifiable method of documenting wildlife presence and have been used as a
significant, non-invasive research tool in many projects worldwide.
26
Additionally, motion-triggered cameras
provide a tangible, low-cost way to engage citizens in wildlife monitoring and conservation. Together, our network
of volunteers and cameras provides invaluable data on the presence of rare and sensitive species. Some of our
camera installations also include devices for collecting hair samples.
STUDY AREA
Our primary geographic focus for 2016 was the Cascade Mountains in Washington, while continuing a limited
effort in the transboundary Kettle River Range. To further delineate core habitats and to give geographic context
to our installation selections, we have defined our study area by the following boundaries:
1. North Cascades: North of Interstate-90
2. I-90 Corridor: Between Hyak and Easton along I-90
3. Southern Cascades: South of I-90
4. Kettle River Range: southeastern British Columbia and Ferry County, Washington, in the United States
26
Masatoshi Yasuda, "Monitoring Diversity and Abundance of Mammals with Camera Traps: A Case Study on
Mount Tsukuba, Central Japan," Mammal Study 29, no. 1 (2004): 37–46.; and Christen Wemmer, Thomas H. Kunz,
and Virginia Hayssen, "Mammalian Sign," in Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity., by Don E Wilson et al.
(Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996).
