15
Bobcat
Coyote
Elk
Hoary marmot
Mule deer
Moose
Raccoon
Striped Skunk/ Spotted Skunk
Porcupine
Snowshoe hare and smaller mammals (squirrels, rodents, American pika)
Livestock (cow and sheep)
Human (non-volunteer) includes: domestic dog with human, horse and rider, bicycle, and vehicles
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
During the 2016 monitoring season, data was collected year-round with the majority of the cameras deployed
from May through October. Over the course of the season, 27 survey areas were established and maintained by
project volunteers. These survey areas were strategically positioned throughout the Cascade Mountain Range,
northeastern Washington, and into the southern regions of British Columbia. The following results cover all of the
mammal species detected on our camera traps, including all events involving priority species for the project as
outlined above. Only species falling within the three priority levels are included. Due to increasing interest in the
interaction of wolves and livestock in Washington, any observed domestic livestock and human activity has also
been included in this analysis.
Though our program expands knowledge of wildlife presence in Washington, limitations to the breadth of our
data do exist. Our data cannot ascertain species diversity, population size, or species absence. Rather, our data
focuses on species richness, which has invaluable applications to the conservation and management of rare and
sensitive species in Washington. Species richness is defined as the number of different species present within a
given area. In addition to assessing species richness, we assess the number of observed events of identified
priority-level species per study area. For the purposes of this project, an event is defined as any visit of a single
animal (or group of animals belonging to the same species) to a camera installation with no gap greater than five
minutes between images. Thus, the more events recorded from each level (with a particular emphasis on Level 1
species), the greater the importance to the goals of our project.
Results for this year are organized by target species, as in 2015. The number of discreet remote camera
installations at each general geographic survey area and the total number of trapnights is reported below as an
index of relative survey effort in each area. Camera Installations may be moved to a new location for a number of
reasons and are left to the volunteers' discretion; for example if non-volunteer humans discover the camera, the
location may be moved to potentially prevent theft.
GRIZZLY BEAR
This season two survey areas in the North Cascades were maintained for detecting grizzly bears (Figure 2). The
Blum Lake survey area had two installations and was only revisited once throughout the summer season after the
