15
Level 3
Black bear
Bobcat
Coyote
Elk
Mule deer
Raccoon
Snowshoe hare and smaller mammals
Livestock
Human (non-volunteer)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
During the 2015 monitoring season, data was collected year-round with the majority of the cameras deployed
from May through October. Over the course of the season, 23 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 5 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.
In contrast to past reports which have been organized by region, results for this year are organized by target
species. 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.
GRIZZLY BEAR
This season two survey areas in the North Cascades were maintained for detecting grizzly bears. The Green
Lake survey area had two installations and was only revisited once throughout the summer season after the
initial set-up. Two installations were also established at the Grizzly Creek survey area. Volunteers were not
able to revisit these after the initial set-up before the end of summer and therefore no photos were received
before the end of the monitoring season. Both of these survey areas are in remote, relatively high elevation
locations in the North Cascades. It was not possible to retrieve cameras from either survey area due to
weather conditions before winter set in. We look forward to retrieving them in the spring
