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
Issue link: http://conservationnw.uberflip.com/i/947352
10 finding of a reduced detection probability for marten in the Silver Fir site is consistent with these findings. The American marten has been the focus of recent research evaluating landscape connectivity on National Forest lands east of the Cascade Crest. This research determined that Snoqualmie Pass is acting as a barrier to connectivity for this species north and south of the Interstate (Gaines 2010). The Silver Fir-Hyak site is primarily covered with late successional subalpine forest, generally considered ideal habitat for American marten but is isolated from adjacent patches by ski runs and ski hill infrastructure. Within this context, our findings of a reduction in detection probability at a location close to the Interstate maybe an indication of continued degradation of this corridor for American marten. This forest patch is ideal marten habitat, apparently some of the closest such habitat south of Interstate 90 on or east of the Cascade Crest. If human disturbance in the form of increased winter recreational infrastructure and activity are contributing to the decline in use of this habitat by American marten it would represent a significant problem for numerous ongoing efforts to maintain or increase the permeability of this important wildlife corridor in the Washington Cascades. Put in the context of climate projections that will add further stresses to this landscape bottleneck for montane wildlife species such as the American marten, it is of even greater concern. Project leadership will be talking with advisory committee members and reviewing recent and ongoing research efforts on this subject to determine what sort of follow- up analysis and continued data collection, if any, may be warranted on this subject. Denny Creek Pilot Transect This year CWMP engaged in a pilot survey of a location along the interstate west of Snoqualmie Pass in collaboration with the Washington Department of Transportation Habitat Connectivity Biologist Kelly McAllister. Students with Wilderness Awareness School's Wildlife Tracking Intensive assisted in a single-visit pilot survey at a site near exit 47, the Denny Creek exit off I-90. During this visit students recorded sign of two coyotes and a deer entering and crossing Eastbound I-90. Access to this potential transect is straightforward, with a parking area at Exit 47 on National Forest road 9034. Travel through the forest follows the campground road and the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River east to a spur off National Forest road 5800. The forest south of I-90 was not surveyed, but could potentially be accessed from the Annette Lake Trailhead. It appears that this would be a plausible location to survey as a part of CCWMP's winter work if there is interest in monitoring this location as a component of WSDOT's evaluation of permeability issues on this part of the interstate. Citizen Science This year the number of transects completed and the amount of volunteer effort was significantly greater than last year, and on par with other years of the project with a consistent snowpack in the study area throughout the season. This field season, nine volunteer team leaders worked with an additional 34 volunteers to carry out 25 transect surveys. Six of nine team leaders have been with the project for many years, as have a number of the projects general volunteers. This level of experience has contributed to the ongoing success of the project and the ability of the winter field season to run smoothly with limited input from paid project managers.