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project partners, government agency biologists, and professional researchers. Our Advisory Council provides
valuable input to the review of our program; it also steers our yearly monitoring objectives and site locations.
Council members assist in developing our protocols, confirm identification of priority images from the season, and
provide a scientific audience for results gained in the field, ranging from hair samples to tracks. These
collaborations between project partners and advisers are crucial to the success of the program year to year.
Collaboration keeps our efforts scientifically informed and relevant, ensures coordination rather than duplication
of monitoring efforts statewide, and adds valuable, on-the-ground information to the conservation community.
CWMP's monitoring efforts are broken into two projects: remote camera monitoring (annual monitoring with
heavier effort from May-October) and snow tracking along Interstate 90 (typically December-March). At the
culmination of each project, a monitoring report is prepared and made public through Conservation Northwest's
website (www.conservationnw.org/wildlife-monitoring/). This report focuses on our results from the 2017 remote
camera monitoring year. Separate snow tracking reports are available on our website.
In 2017, we concentrated our study area in two distinct landscapes – the Cascade Mountains in Washington and
the transboundary mountain ranges of northeast Washington and southern British Columbia, specifically the
Kettle River Range and the Rossland Range. Within the Cascade Mountains, we have divided our study area into
three regions:
1. Washington's North Cascades: North of I-90 to the U.S.-Canada border (North Cascades)
2. I-90 Corridor: Between Snoqualmie Pass and Easton along Interstate 90
3. Washington's South Cascades: South of I-90 to the Columbia River (South Cascades)
At the start of each year, monitoring objectives are established by project staff with feedback and guidance from
the Advisory Council. These objectives are typically in response to current statewide priority species and habitat
identified as important for these species. In 2017, our monitoring objectives were to:
1. Monitor the recovery of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the Cascade Mountains, with a particular focus south
of Interstate 90 in the Southern Recovery Zone identified by Washington's Wolf Conservation and
Management Plan (Wolf Plan). Our sites were determined in response to identified high-quality habitat
where wolves are expected to expand their existing range.
2. Document the presence of wolverines (Gulo gulo) in the North and South Cascades, outside of the
geographic scope of the ongoing North Cascades Wolverine Study.
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In addition to visual documentation
through remote cameras, these sites are set up to collect valuable genetic information for wildlife
agencies, primarily through "hair snags".
3. Document grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) or other rare carnivores in the federally-designated North Cascades
Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone, approximately from Interstate 90 north to the U.S.-Canada border.
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North Cascades Wolverine Study. Lead Principal Investigator: Keith Aubry (USDA Forest Service, Pacific
Northwest Research Station, Olympia, WA)
