Cascadia WildWolverine Tracking Project

2018-19 Season Report

The Wolverine Tracking Project is a grassroots citizen science project in which trained volunteers conduct surveys for rare carnivores on the Mt Hood National Forest. The project has three objectives - to collect data on the occurrence of target rare carnivore species in the Mt Hood National Forest, to get people involved in their local national forest, and to teach participants about wildlife and the natural world. This report documents the 2018-19 season, running from April through the following March.

Project Description

Primary target species are wolverine, wolves, Sierra Nevada red fox, and marten. Information is also collected on all mammals species, with emphasis on carnivores. Three types of surveys were carried out. Camera trap surveys were done year-round, snow tracking surveys were carried out during the winter, and scat surveys were done in the summer. Genetic samples of red fox were collected when encountered during all surveys. Surveys followed the same protocol as previous years, see Appendix A for survey details.

2017-18 Season Results

Camera SurveysThis year, half of the cameras were placed at higher elevation areas near Mt Hood to target fox, focusing in the Mt Hood Meadows area during the summer and the Government Camp/Timberline areaduring the winter, and the other half were placed along the eastern boundary of the Forest to target wolves. We had 17 cameras operating in the summer and 16 in the winter, for a total of 4798 survey days. Most cameras were placed in one location for the summer and moved to a different location for the winter, except for the camera at Meadows was kept in the same place as last year and remained there for both the summer and the winter, the two Hazel Hollow cameras which were also in the same place for both the summer and winter, and another which was moved to three different sites during the summer. Six genetic samples that had the potential to be red fox were collected during the camera surveys: four scat samples, one urine sample, and one hair sample. Camera survey locations are shown in Figures 1 through 4, and results presented in Tables 1 and 2.

Tracking SurveysTracking surveys covered 55 miles, at 16 different locations within the snow zone around Mt Hood. Twenty-two trips in total were carried out, however one trip had snow conditions that were too poor fortracking, and three others had fairly poor tracking conditions. Survey locations are shown in Figures 5 and 6 and results presented in Table 3.

Scat SurveysForty-eight miles of trail was hiked in search of red fox scat. Two samples that had the potential to be from red fox were collected. Survey results are given in Table 4. All genetic samples will be given to Cascade Carnivore Project for analysis and inclusion in a region-wide study of montane red fox.

FindingsA camera detected two wolves traveling together inside the Mt Hood National Forest boundary during July. These photos added important confirmation to growing evidence that a new pack, now called the Warm Springs pack, had established residence. This is the first pack in this area since wolves were reintroduced to the western United States, so this is an exciting discovery!

Sierra Nevada red fox were detected at five locations. They showed up at both of the cameras located near the town of Government Camp, along the Pacific Crest Trail about a mile from Timberline Lodge, and at one of the two cameras located half way in between those locations; none were detected in the less heavily used areas east of Timberline Road. One also continued to visit the Meadows camera.

Marten were detected at Lemiti Creek, near the Ollalie Lakes Wilderness area at an elevation of 4220 ft, an unexpected find. They also visited all the cameras above 5000 ft around Mt Hood, in their typicalhabitat.

Wolverine were, again, not detected, but the project continues to provides a monitoring system to detectif they disperse back in.

Many non-target species were also recorded including, black bear, coyote, bobcat, cougar, river otter, weasel, striped skunk, spotted skunk, raccoon, elk, deer, and small rodents. Snowshoe hare seemed exceptionally abundant this year. This is a record year for the number of snowshoe hare trails recorded during a tracking survey, with one trip picking up 60 trails, and a second trip 42. Bear were seen throughout the summer at many of the mid to lower elevation camera sites, starting as soon as the cameras were put up in June and continuing through October when they were taken down. Cameras were put up in their winter locations fairly soon after they were taken down, however, bear were detected at only one location during the winter season, in October and November at a lower elevation site. The tracking surveys also detected one set of bear tracks in mid December at 4300ft elevation in the Tilly Jane area – preventing us from speculating that the bears all went into hibernation by November. Deer were quite common at all cameras during the summer, and at the lower elevation cameras during the winter. The camera that was up year round near Mt Hood Meadows (at 5680 ft) cangive a bit of anecdotal data on when they may start moving to higher elevations. Both deer and elk started appeared regularly on the Meadows camera starting in mid June. Camera detections of deer in the montane areas continued through October, and of elk until early November.

VolunteersVolunteers put in an immense number of hours to make this project successful. A total of 211 people were involved in the project, volunteering a total of over 3700 hours. For the tracking surveys, volunteers put in almost 1000 hours, for the camera surveys, over 2600 hours, and for the scat surveys, approximately 78 hours. Participants additionally donated over 28,700 miles of driving. The level of enthusiasm and commitment from volunteers is what continues to make this project a success.

Acknowledgments

Cascadia Wild would like to thank the Mt Hood National Forest and Defenders of Wildlife for their funding and support, without which this project could not happen.

Wolves on Mt Hood

Figure 1: Overview of summer camera survey locations

Figure 2: Summer camera survey locations in Mt Hood Meadows area

Table 1: Summer camera data

Suumer camera survey resultsMt Hood Meadows area Warm Springs boundary East side of Forest

Loca

tion

with

held

Location Tilly

Jan

e 20

17-1

8

Mea

dow

s 20

17-1

8

Mea

dow

s B

uild

ings

Mea

dow

s S

ki L

ift

Cla

rk C

reek

Elk

Mea

dow

s

New

ton

Upp

er

Lam

bert

son

But

te

Jack

pot

Mea

dow

Dry

Cre

ek

War

m S

prin

gs M

eado

w

Pin

head

But

te

Lem

iti C

reek

Haz

el H

ollo

w #

1

Haz

el H

ollo

w #

2

McC

ubbi

ns G

ulch

Cam

as P

rairi

e

Cam

as P

rairi

e E

ast

Whi

te R

iver

#1

Whi

te R

iver

#2

End Date 05/2

0/18

09/2

3/18

10/2

8/18

10/2

8/18

10/1

9/18

10/2

8/18

10/1

5/18

10/1

3/18

09/2

9/18

10/1

3/18

10/1

4/18

10/1

4/18

10/2

1/18

10/1

4/18

04/1

5/18

10/1

4/18

10/1

4/18

03/0

3/18

05/2

8/18

10/1

5/18

Start date 04/2

8/18

05/2

0/18

06/2

3/18

06/2

3/18

06/1

7/18

06/2

4/18

06/3

0/18

07/0

1/18

05/2

6/18

06/1

0/18

06/0

9/18

06/0

9/18

06/1

0/18

04/1

5/18

10/1

4/18

04/1

5/18

04/1

5/18

02/1

0/18

04/2

2/18

05/2

9/18

Elv (ft) 6250

5680

5285

5820

4632

4965

5908

6346

3833

4167

3710

4075

4217

2750

2560

3240

3165

3250

3170

3160

Red fox x xWolf x xCoyote x x x x x x x x x x x x x xCougar x x x xBobcat x x xBlack bear x x x x x x x x x x xMarten x x x x x x xWeasel xStriped skunk x x x x xSpotted skunk xRaccoon xDeer x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xElk x x x x x x x x xBrush rabbit/Snowshoe hare x x x x x x xDouglas squirrel x x x x x x xFlying squirrel x x x x xWestern gray squirrel x x x xCalifornia ground squirrel xGolden mantled ground squirrel xChipmunk x x x xMouse x xTurkey x

Figure 3: Overview of winter camera survey locations

Figure 4: Winter camera survey locations in Government Camp/Timberline area

Table 2: Winter camera data

Table : Winter camera survey results

Gov’t Camp / Timberline area Forest boundary area

Location Litt

le Z

igza

g

Mea

dow

s

Gla

de

Alp

ine

Yel

low

jack

et E

ast

Yel

low

jack

et W

est

Gov

’t C

amp

Eas

t

Gov

’t C

amp

Wes

t

Cle

ar L

ake

Bea

r S

prin

gs N

ear

Bea

r S

prin

gs F

ar

Haz

el H

ollo

w #

1

Haz

el H

ollo

w #

2

OD

FW

land

End Date 05/0

7/19

4/6/

19

4/20

/19

4/28

/19

4/21

/19

4/20

/19

04/0

6/19

04/0

7/19

04/2

8/19

04/2

8/19

pend

ing

pend

ing

12/7

/18

4/28

/19

4/28

/19

Start date 10/2

7/18

10/2

8/18

11/1

8/18

11/1

8/18

11/1

8/18

11/1

1/18

11/1

1/18

11/1

0/18

11/1

0/18

11/2

5/18

10/1

5/18

11/1

0/18

11/1

0/18

Elevation (ft) 5780

5680

5100

4440

4240

4300

4100

4000

3480

3420

3200

2750

2560

2380

2300

2300

Red fox x x x x x

Coyote x x x x x x x T* x x x x

Bobcat x x x x x x x x x

Cougar x

Marten x x x

Weasel x

River otter x

Striped skunk x

Black bear x

Black tailed deer x x x x x

Elk x x x x x x

Brush rabbit/Snowshoe hare x x x x x x x x x

Douglas squirrel x T* x x x x x x x

Flying squirrel x

Western gray squirrel x x x

Bushy tailed woodrat x

Mouse xTurkey x xSooty grouse x

* Tracks seen while servicing camera

McC

ubbi

ns G

ulch

W

inte

r #1

McC

ubbi

ns G

ulch

W

inte

r #2

rem

aini

ng

up

con’

t fro

m

sum

mer

con’

t fro

m

sum

mer

con’

t fro

m

sum

mer

Figure 5: Overview of winter tracking survey locations

Figure 4: Winter tracking survey locations around Mt Hood

Table 3: Winter tracking data

Table 4: Scat survey results

Date Location06/29/18 Clear Lake Butte 0.1 no07/07/18 Mazama Trail to McNeil Point 6 no08/23/18 Timberline Lodge/Paradise Park Loop 12 noearly Sept Timberline Lodge to Ramona Falls 20.2 no09/21/18 Timberline loop 10 2

Total 48.3 2

Distance Surveyed (miles)

# Samples Collected

Tracking Survey Results

Location Tim

ber

line

Gov

’t C

am

p

Gov

’t C

amp

Gov

’t C

amp

Gov’

t C

am

p

Gla

cier

Vie

w

Sno

wbun

ny

Sno

wbu

nny

Bar

low

Pass

Bar

low

Pass

Pio

neer

Wom

ans

Gra

ve

Sal

mon

Riv

er M

eadow

Fro

g La

ke

Whi

te R

iver

Cla

rk C

reek

Teac

up

Lak

e

Little

John

Littl

e Jo

hn

Clo

ud C

ap R

d

Tilly

Jan

e

Bea

r S

prin

gs

Oak

ridge

Tra

il

Date 2/3/

19

12/

2/1

8

12/9

/18

12/3

0/18

3/3

0/19

1/2

3/19

1/2

1/19

2/7/

19

12/

16/

18

1/5/

19

3/10

/19

3/2/

19

1/2

6/1

9

12/1

5/18

3/24

/19

2/2

3/19

1/19

/19

01/2

0/19

1/6

/19

12/8

/18

1/12

/19

2/1

7/1

9

Elevation(ft) 5700

410

0

4100

4100

410

0

360

0

400

0

4000

400

0

4000

3900

3400

400

0

4200

4600

440

0

3400

3400

390

0

4400

3400

200

0

Coyote 1 1 1 1/1* 1 1 3

Bobcat 10 1 1

Weasel 1 3 3 2 1 1

Marten 4

Black bear 1

Deer 3/1*

Elk 1*

Douglas squirrel 10/1* 17 19 2 2/1* 7 11 12 16/1* 12 7 2 6 4 8 16 4 11 14 18

Snowshoe hare 36 60 3 1/1* 26 42/2* 20 15 6 22 1 5 4 12 2 13

Mouse/Vole 1 4 1 2 10 1 1 1 2 1 5

Grouse 1

3 3 2 3 0 2 3 4 3 2 2 3 1 4 1 2 3 2 3 3 1 3

*denotes sign other than tracks

Snow Tracking Quality (0=worst, 4=best)

Appendix A: Project Description

Tracking surveys:Snow tracking surveys are carried out on snowshoes, most weekends from mid December through the end of March.  Trips are lead by highly trained volunteer trip leaders, who are responsible for both the quality of the data and for mentoring survey participants.  

Every animal trail that crosses the survey path is recorded.  A GPS waypoint and additional documentation are also taken for all carnivores.  Snow quality (the ability of the snow to record clear tracks) and habitat information are also collected.  

Tracking survey locations are chosen based on accessibility during the winter and snow conditions.  Surveys are generally conducted along recreational trails or closed roads, with the exact routes determined by the trip leader on the day of the trip.  Trip dates are decided at the beginning of the season and cannot be timed to coincide with good snow conditions for tracking.  

Camera surveys:Wildlife cameras are maintained year round.  Cameras are generally moved twice a year, once to their summer locations and once to their winter locations.  Most cameras are baited with meat, fox urine, anda long range scent lure designed for canines and mustelids (Caven's Gusto).  

Scat surveys:Volunteers hike a section of trail of their choosing that is in the vicinity of Mt Hood and above 4000 ft elevation.  While hiking, volunteers continually keep an eye out for potential red fox scat and collect any that is found. 

Participant involvement:  Tracking surveys are done in groups of up to 10 people, including two trip leaders.   Trip leaders must pass a written evaluation before being qualified to lead.  Trip participants attend a two­part training.  Four sets of trainings were offered in November and December.  On the trips, participants are given instruction in animal tracking and also in related topics such as natural history, awareness activities, and wilderness survival.  The aim of this blend of topics is to increase not only participant’s knowledge, but also their feelings of being connected to their local area.  

Camera survey volunteers are divided into groups of 5­8 people and each group is responsible for maintaining a camera for the season.  Camera volunteers also attend two trainings, a two hour classroom session and a day long field session. 

Scat survey volunteers go out on their own and are provided with a detailed instructional book and scat collection supplies.