This is a continuation of 2021 and 2023 CREOi-funded projects. In 1993, wápupxn (Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis) were listed as a Washington State threatened species and by 2017 were up-listed to endangered status. In 2000, they were listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Numerous studies have pointed to evidence that the persistence of lynx in Washington State will depend on maintaining the connected network of populations across Washington, and north into British Columbia (BC). The Kettle River Mountain Range, or ‘Kettles’, occupy northeast Washington State and form an important east-west bridge for meta-populations of lynx. With the increase in devastating wildfires in the Okanogan and Cascades ranges, maintaining a source population of lynx in the Kettles could be essential to long-term persistence of the species in the state. Population surveys previously funded by CREOi have documented the presence of lynx in the Kettles, but sightings were extremely rare.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CCT) partnered with Conservation Northwest (CNW), the Okanogan Nation Alliance and others to begin implementing a Canada lynx population augmentation program to restore lynx back to CCT ancestral lands in the Kettles. By diversifying the areas that lynx inhabit across the state, we will help ensure that this species is more adaptable to future environmental changes. The program’s objective is to live-trap a total of 50 lynx over five years from healthy southern BC populations and release them on the Colville Reservation in Northeast Washington State, and this award helped to support the fourth year of the effort.
Trapping began in October 2024 and ended in six weeks with 10 lynx (six males and four females) successfully processed, outfitted with new collars, and translocated to the Kettle Range. CREOi funds supported payments to trappers for seasonal use of traplines and dependable radio collars. Trapped lynx were fitted with radio collars and ear tags, photographed, weighed, sampled for genetic material, treated for parasites, and evaluated for overall health and fitness. Once radio collared lynx were released, an extensive monitoring effort was initiated to record habitat use, daily and seasonal movement, home range establishment, breeding success, and mortality. Results are assessed each year to determine if distribution, survival, and reproduction objectives have been achieved.
To date (after four seasons), 36 lynx have been translocated to the Kettle Range. Two returned to BC and were re-captured and released again in the Kettles. We’ve documented nine mortalities, four from legal harvest in BC and five in the Kettles, four of which were retrieved and sent to Washington State University for analysis. Collars on lynx from Years 1 and 2 underperformed and quit early, while Years 3 and 4 collars remain fully functional. If the 13 lynx from Years 1 and 2 remain near to where we last recorded them, there are currently four lynx in BC (1F, 3M), 10 lynx on the Colville Reservation (4F, 6M), and 11 lynx in Washington outside the Colville Reservation (7F, 4M), for a total of 21 lynx (11F, 10M) in the Kettle Range recovery area. Last summer, several camera stations were established proximate to where female detections were clustered. A den site was identified and biologists confirmed, for the first time in 40 years, the presence of live lynx kittens. Lynx movement, distribution, and resource and habitat utilization in the Kettles are also being tracked, helping to inform US Forest Service project planning. ($20,000)