Habitat Connectivity

Governor Gregoire Declares May 20-26, 2012 Bear Awareness Week

Posted: by gmacd_admin

Washington State’s Governor Gregoire declares May 20-26, 2012 “Bear Awareness Week”
Special resources celebrate state’s grizzly and black bears and educate the public on how to co-exist

Black bears and grizzlies are an important part of our state’s natural heritage. Today, Washington has one of the healthiest black bear populations in the U.S.  It is also one of just five states in the lower 48 still wild enough for a small number of federally-listed threatened grizzly bears.

Recognizing the value of bears and the need to educate the public on how to live and recreate safely with them, Governor Christine Gregoire recently declared May 20-26 “Bear Awareness Week.”  Among other points, the Governor’s proclamation notes, “Whereas, by educating the public on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of bears, it is possible for people and bears to coexist peacefully…” 

New Food Storage Orders Put in Place in the Selkirk Mountain Ecosystem

Posted: by tim

The Idaho Panhandle National Forest recently put into place a new Food Storage Order of the Priest Lake, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry Ranger Districts. This Forest Service Order will deal with human food and pet food, garbage and bird seed, deer carcasses, fish entrails and anything else that might lure wildlife into trouble especially bears. This has been done to reduce conflicts and potential conflict between wildlife and humans. The Colville National Forest, which also manages lands within this ecosystem, has had a similar food storage order in place since 1987 when its forest plan was revised. The new food storage requirements are intended to be permanent, effective each year from April 1 through Dec. 1. The rules applying to the “front country,” such as around Priest Lake, have been encouraged for years. They include keeping food in a vehicle or hard-sided shelter when not being consumed at meals. The new rules specifically prohibit feeding wildlife and putting up bird feeders – liquid, suet or seed – in certain areas. Bear-resistant garbage containers will be required in designated areas and camp food and leftovers, such as bacon grease, must be hauled out and not buried on site. Within most other grizzly bear ecosystems, the National Forests and Parks have had similar rules for years. The conditions of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests new food storage order only pertain to activities on national forest system lands within this ecosystem.

For more information on this Food Storage Order visit the Idaho Panhandle National Forests website.

Grizzlies run amok at zoo’s Bear Affair and Big Howl for wolves

Posted: by Cathy Macchio

Come out to Woodland Park Zoo on Saturday June 4th to watch Keema and Denali, 900 pound grizzly bears, run amok a mock campsite and backyard as Chris Morgan, bear ecologist, narrates how intelligent, adaptive and important these awe-inspiring bears are to a healthy ecosystem.

The Bear Affair & Big Howl for Wolves is a full day of activities focused on bears and wolves and how humans can co-exist with them.

The schedule:

  • 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Crafts for kids
  • 10 a.m. Keeper talk on wolves
  • 10:30 a.m. Keeper talk on sloth bears
  • 11 a.m. Mock campsite in grizzly exhibit with Chris Morgan
  • Noon – 1 p.m. Chris Morgan book signing
  • 1:30 p.m. Keeper talk on Malayan sun bears
  • 2 p.m. Home demonstration in grizzly exhibit with Chris Morgan
  • 3 p.m. Keeper talk on wolves

 

http://greenlake.komonews.com/news/urban-wildlife/see-grizzlies-run-amok-zoos-bear-affair-big-howl-wolves/643809

North Cascades rare carnivore survey

Posted: by gus

The Cascade Rare Carnivore Survey sampled for rare carnivores in the North Cascades Ecosystem (NCE)this last summer from July to October 2010. The sampling survey focused on grizzly bear, gray wolf, Canada lynx and wolverine using hair snare corrals and some remote digital cameras. Over 1,196 hair samples were collected for DNA analysis from 191 total sites sampled with corrals.

The North Cascades Ecosystem (including parts of Canada) is one of the largest contiguous blocks of federal land remaining in the lower 48 states. As stated in the report, carnivores are very difficult to study given their large area requirements, low densities and elusive behavior. The researchers felt their best method for detecting the sample species was by using non-invasive hair snagging and remote cameras. The specific areas sampled were the Pasayten Wilderness and the North Cascades National Park, the mountainous area North and South of Highway 2, the Glacier Peak and Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and the area North of the I-90 corridor.

The hair-snare corrals are composed of a single strand of barbed wire strecthed around four or more trees at a height of about two feet. A liquid scent lure was left in the center of the corral as an attractant and animals climbing over or under the wire to enter the corral generally left a hair sample on one or more strands or barbs. When found In the field, hair samples were immediately collected and stored in plastic containers for later DNA analysis. In addition, 47 remote cameras were deployed in the study area and served as a useful tool in validating the effectiveness of the hair sampling. The researchers found that when a bear photo was captured at a site on a remote camera, 98% of the time a hair sample was also captured on a strand of wire at the same site.

Results from this study will be used to further the mission of state and federal agencies to recover or maintain viable populations of carnivores in the North Cascades Ecosystem. The results of the DNA analysis of the hair samples collected will be available sometime in the summer of 2011. Understanding the affects of highways on gene-flow among carnivores, and determining the distribution and population status of grizzly bears in the NCE are some of the important questions this study may answer.

For a full copy of the Cascade Rare Carnivore Survey Report contact the Okanogan-Wenatchee NF or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Wenatchee climate change workshop

Posted: by gus

The Okanogan-Wenatchee NF hosted the most recent climate change workshop for the North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership (NCAP) on February 23, 2011 in Wenatchee. NCAP is a Forest Service (FS) and National Park Service (NPS) collaboration on climate change adaptation. NCAP is also a science/management partnership which includes the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie NF, the North Cascades National Park complex, the Okanogan-Wenatchee NF, and Mt. Rainier National Park; an area encompassing roughly six million acres. The primary science providers for the partnership are the Climate Impacts Group from the University of Washington and the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station.

I attended the one day workshop in Wenatchee and wanted to share with you some of the key points I learned about climate change and affects on area ecosystems.

The science of climate change is based on THOUSANDS of peer-reviewed papers which show or point to a warming world. In the last fifty years most of the climate change affects can be attributed to human activity and in the Pacific Northwest 35-60% of observed hydrologic trends from 1950-1999 are a consequence of human caused global warming.

The Whitebark Pine was identified in a 2008 climate change workshop as a key forest species of concern. The NCAP is looking at Whitebark Pine habitat and wants to make sure it is in the best possible shape for future climate change; this is part of the science-management collaboration talked about during the workshop. Whitebark Pine is important because the seeds are a key food source for Grizzly Bears in the North Cascades ecosystem.

Mountain Pine Beetle which over-winter in the cambium layer of many coniferous tree species of the Pacific Northwest are very sensitive to climate effects. Very cold winters can kill the larvae of the beetle which would normally emerge in the spring to feed on their hosts. The Rocky Mountains used to be a “cold barrier” preventing the Mountain Pine Beetle from crossing over to the West, this is no longer the case. The warming climate favors more frequent and larger outbreaks of beetle infestations in our Western forests.