Sustainable forest management is about more than the long-term welfare of trees and land. Forested areas are often unique habitat for species like the threatened Canada lynx. Since 1996, DNR’s Lynx Habitat Management Plan has guided our state’s forest practices to preserve and create high-quality lynx habitat on DNR-managed lands in suitable areas. The lynx planning and policy is supported by science gathered in the field. DNR biologists use tracking collars to monitor lynx health and movement throughout north-central Washington and uplands areas in Canada.
In March and April of 2009, a team of DNR and WDFW biologists spent several wild days trying to locate a lynx’s tracking collar, which had been programmed to drop off the lynx after a year. GPS pinpointed the collar to just north of the U.S.-Canada Border, where the team used snowmobiles and snowshoes to establish a trail to its vicinity, before running out of daylight.
But what started as a search for a collar, turned into an amazing opportunity to further lynx research. Along the way the team immobilized two other trapped cats: one required its collar swapped-out, while the other—a new male—needed a new tracking collar. The original lost collar was eventually found on a later trip, after hours of snowshoe-hiking in steep terrain with lots of fresh snow. That came to two recovered lynx collars—each with a year’s worth of data—and two new cats for that season.
Earlier this year, DNR biologist Scott Fisher received the Washington Chapter of the Wildlife Society Special Achievement Award for his leadership and commitment to lynx research and protection in northeast Washington. The Lynx Habitat Management Plan allows DNR and other land managers to understand how their activities affect individual lynx and the overall lynx population in Washington. The Plan is arguably one of the most comprehensive for lynx in the United States.
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