GBOP

We are very excited to announce that the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project has changed its name to Western Wildlife Outreach (WWO). The new name is a reflection of the expansion of our human and carnivore coexistence programs to include four large carnivore species, grizzly bears, black bears, cougars and gray wolves. You can find us online at our new website address: westernwildlife.org, or you can continue to use bearinfo.org. Either way, you will arrive at the same place, our new home page with our updated logo and look.  See our page to read more about this exciting change

When Barry Lopez wrote his classic tome, Of Wolves and Men, over twenty five years ago,  the understanding of wolf biology and ecology at that time was far less informed than it is today.  Now, we know about ecological principles such as trophic cascades and  the role of apex carnivores in maintaining healthy ecosystems. We know about the social structure of wolf packs,  and that juvenile wolves need the adults in a pack to learn proper hunting techniques that could keep them from becoming “problem wolves”. We know about the distances that individual wolves can travel in search of new territory.

Radio-collaring, remote cameras,  track and scat studies have given us an even more accurate look into the secret lives of  wolves.  In the scientific view, wolves are neither “good” animals nor “bad” animals.  They are simply an intricate part of a larger complex ecosystem that has functioned for thousands of years, maintaining ecological equilibrium.

Grizzly Bear  Outreach Project is working with State and Federal resource management agencies as well as other non-profits, to  provide communities with accurate information on wolves and wolf behavior so that wise, informed decisions can be made and appropriate responses can be developed to Washington’s returning wolf packs.   Gray wolves are native to the Pacific Northwest. Wolves returned to Washington on their own, and were not re-introduced as occurred in Yellowstone National Park. Currently there are eight established wolf packs in Washington. Scientific information such as DNA analysis is pointing to Washington having at least two distinct populations of wolves, those originating from the Idaho/Rocky mountain population, and those originating from Coastal British Columbia.

Gray wolves are considered endangered throughout Washington by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and existing State policy, although a budget-rider attached to a congressional budget bill  resulted in their  de-listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. The federal delisting applied to all of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf population, which includes the eastern third of Washington State. Wolves in Western Washington are still listed under ESA.

Washington State has an adopted Wolf Conservation and Management Plan.  You can read the plan and become more informed about wolves in Washington by visiting the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website page on gray wolves at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/   or  the GBOP website which contains lots of information on Washington’s wolves at  https://westernwildlife.org/gray_wolf/gray-wolf-canis-lupus/

By Rose Oliver, GBOP North Cascades

The mountain huckleberries are just starting to ripen in the alpine elevations of the North Cascades and the hiking conditions are perfect. It’s time to put on those hiking boots and check out what the Cascades have to offer. But it’s also time to make sure you are up to date on your Bear Aware tips: https://westernwildlife.org/black-bears/tips-for-coexistence/.  The main point to remember when observing feeding bears is to give them lots of room and don’t come upon them by surprise.

Delicious ripe mountain huckleberries attract hungry bears to the beautiful alpine meadows, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy those succulent morsels too. Keep an eye out for bear signs, like scat and overturned rocks or logs, and if you come across them, check them out: if the scat is fresh or the grass under the overturned rock is green and springy the bear might be close by.

Remember to make a lot of noise when you come to a bend in the trail, as you never want to surprise a bear. Also, keep your dog on a leash at all times, as an unleashed dog can inadvertently bring a bear back to their owner.  And, if you do encounter a bear on the trail, here are some tips: https://westernwildlife.org/bear-safety/ to help you stay safe.

More often than not, the experience of seeing a bear grazing in an alpine meadow is one of the greatest thrills of hiking; just give the bear space to enjoy his lunch too. We all know how delicious those mountain huckleberries can be!

The Summer of 2012 is likely to go down in history as one of the worst years for fires across the American West.  As I write this there are major fires burning in Idaho and eastern Washington.  Some have affected friends, and one is still burning very close to family in Idaho.  One impact that cannot be easily measured is the effect on wildlife in the long run.  

 We know that wildlife often perishes in fires along with the forest.  For the most part, that is part of nature’s way, part of the cycle in the West.  But when the fires are too large, too frequent and too hot,  damage may be done to ecosystems that will take many generations to recover.  For wildlife populations that have been reduced to small endangered remnants surviving in isolated pockets,  the threat of rampant fires is particularly ominous.  

 In the past, forest and wildlife managers have mostly taken the approach that forests and wildlife will recover from forest and grasslands fires.  After all, some species such as grazers and woodpeckers benefit from new meadows with standing snags and succulent forbs.  But as the fires become larger and hotter, a direct result of climate change and more xeric conditions across the West,  no one can really predict what changes we will see.   But it is not hard to predict that species on the edge, still fighting for recovery like wolves and grizzly bears, will be at increasing risk of survival as fire continues to alter their habitat in ways that remain to be seen.  As we continue to fine-tune plans for managing endangered wildlife,  it is certain that consideration must be given to the likely impacts of climate change such as hotter, faster, more damaging fires.