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 pack in Washington in over 70 years,
Conservation Northwest has placed a major focus on wolf recovery in Washington. As of December of 2016,
Washington is home to 20 confirmed wolf packs, with the new Sherman pack confirmation in the spring of 2016
4
and the Touchet pack in late 2016. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife updated their 2016 Annual
Report in March of 2017 to reflect the state's most up-to-date wolf count, with at least 115 wolves calling
Washington State home at the end of 2016
5
. Conservation Northwest partners with the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife to implement the state's wolf conservation and management plan, developed in 2011
6
. In
addition to shaping wolf policy in Washington, through CWMP, Conservation Northwest provides on-the-ground
data used to better understand the distribution of wolves across the state.
The Wolf Conservation and Management Plan identifies three recovery zones in Washington: Eastern
Washington, the North Cascades, and the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast.
7
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. Additionally, each recovery zone must have at least four breeding pairs for three consecutive
years. As of 2016, none of Washington's 19 wolf packs have been documented in the Southern Cascades and
Northwest Coast recovery zones, while 16 are present in the Eastern Washington recovery zone. In 2016, CWMP
focused all of its wolf monitoring efforts in the state to detection south of I-90 in the Cascades portion of the
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.
WOLVERINE MONITORING
The largest terrestrial members of the weasel family, wolverines are among the rarest carnivores in North
America.
8
They prefer alpine 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 home ranges
between 100 km² to over 900 km². This means they typically live in low densities across large landscapes.
9
After
4
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/packs/21/
5
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/packs/annual_survey.html
6
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00001/
7
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).
8
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.
9
Banci, Vivian. "Wolverine." In The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores: American Marten, Fisher, Lynx,
and Wolverine in the Western United States., edited by Leonard F. Ruggiero, Keith B. Aubry, Steven W. Bushkirk, Jack
