CWMP 2017-2018 Winter Report
6
the highway, entering the creek. No crossing behavior was detected on either side of the
highway. At Price Noble a coyote was trailed on the south side of the highway foraging and
heading towards Keechelus lake. No relationship to the road was determined. A cougar
was trailed on the North side of the highway, but no relationship to the road was
established. Finally, a bobcat was trailed at Easton transect on the North side of the
highway moving parallel with the road way. No crossing behavior was detected. See
Appendix B for maps of trailing events.
Summary of 2018 American Marten Surveys
This year six surveys for American marten were completed (Appendix C). Three surveys
were on the North side of the highway (Amabilis Mountain, Keechelus Ridge, and Kendall
Lakes), two on the South side (Hyak Lake, Twin Lakes / Mount Catherine) and one in forest
between the highway's east and west lanes (Denny Creek). American Marten were only
detected on the North side of the highway at Keechelus Ridge and Kendall Lakes.
Citizen Science
The Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project completed a total of 6 marten surveys and 24
winter tracking transects along the I-90 corridor between December 31
st
and March
18
th
. This year we had an increased number of total volunteer transect days and volunteer
hours, including some much needed flagging maintenance that was completed on the
transects prior to the start of the season. A total of 49 volunteers logged 815 volunteer
hours in the field, over 29 field days.
Volunteers spent fewer hours on administration and entering data sheets manually, thanks
to increased efficiency provided by use of a mobile phone app that is able to synchronize
our data from the field and be saved online. General tasks have become more efficient as
well, as we continue to conduct meetings as conference calls and returning volunteers
continue to strengthened the expertise of the project. Our long-term partnership with the
Wilderness Awareness School has provided consistently high quality wildlife trackers as
our team leaders for the project, helping to maintain the reliability of the data collected.
Table 3. Summary of winter 2017-2018 volunteer participation hours
Number of Volunteer Team Leaders 10
Number of Volunteers Team Members 39
TOTAL PROJECT VOLUNTEERS 49
Number of Transect Field Days 29
Number of Transect Volunteer Days 107
Winter Training Team Leader Hours 215
