11
trapping pressure along with habitat decline reduced their numbers drastically in Washington. Because of these
pressures, lynx are protected under the federal and state Endangered Species Acts. Based on the preferred
habitat of lynx, Koelher et al. estimate that Washington has approximately 3,800 km
2
of available habitat.
23
Researchers have documented the dispersal of lynx across the Canadian border in northeastern Washington.
24
Since wildlife travel across political boundaries, Conservation Northwest works closely with U.S. and Canadian
conservation allies to ensure that lynx and other wildlife can travel safely and seamlessly across the border.
Over the past several years, Conservation Northwest has piloted approaches to extend our monitoring efforts into
the transboundary Kettle River and Rossland mountain ranges in Washington and southern British Columbia.
These efforts are aimed at documenting the presence of lynx and collecting genetic information on individuals
outside of ongoing agency research in the Cascade Mountains.
The major objectives for 2017 lynx monitoring in British Columbia were to document the presence of lynx in the
transboundary Kettle River Range between British Columbia and northeast Washington and to collect genetic data
from hair snags placed at each remote camera installation. Working towards these goals, we aim to increase our
understanding of lynx in this area and their relation to adjacent, better-studied lynx populations in the Rockies
and Cascade Mountains.
In the fall of 2016, we collaborated with Dr. Lui Marinelli and students from Selkirk College in British Columbia,
who maintained three lynx monitoring installations in Rossland Range, BC using CWMP cameras. These cameras,
installed in October of each year, run through the winter and provide us with a look at transboundary species
detections north of the border. Additionally, our project volunteers installed and maintained eleven camera
installations on the Washington side of the border, providing support and supplementing a larger lynx monitoring
effort led by Dr. Dan Thornton and his Mammal Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab at Washington State
University.
METHODOLOGY
CWMP is a volunteer-based project supported by Conservation Northwest staff, contractors, interns, and other
project partners. Though our winter monitoring season includes snow tracking techniques along I-90, the majority
of our work is accomplished through the use of remote, motion-triggered cameras. The use of motion-triggered
cameras represents an easy and verifiable method of documenting wildlife presence and have been used as a
significant, non-invasive research tool in many projects worldwide.
25
Additionally, motion-triggered cameras
23
Gary M. Koehler et al., "Habitat Fragmentation and the Persistence of Lynx Populations in Washington State,"
The Journal of Wildlife Management 72, no. 7 (2008): 1518–1524, doi:10.2193/2007-437.
24
Stinson, Washington State Recovery Plan for the Lynx.; J.D. Brittell et al., Native Cats of Washington, Section III: Lynx,
Unpublished (Olympia, WA, USA: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1989).; and Kim G. Poole,
"Dispersal Patterns of Lynx in the Northwest Territories," The Journal of Wildlife Management 61, no. 2 (1997): 497–
505.
25
Masatoshi Yasuda, "Monitoring Diversity and Abundance of Mammals with Camera Traps: A Case Study on
Mount Tsukuba, Central Japan," Mammal Study 29, no. 1 (2004): 37–46.; and Christen Wemmer, Thomas H. Kunz,
and Virginia Hayssen, "Mammalian Sign," in Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity., by Don E Wilson et al.
