Smile, You’re on Critter Camera

Groups Document Bears, Wolverines, Other Meat-Eaters Near Mount Adams and St. Helens

By Eric Schwartz
eschwartz@chronline.com

    A growing list of animals are being caught on carnivore camera.

    The Gifford Pinchot Task Force has released the first round of photographs captured at two remote locations in the 1.3 million-acre forest, one south of Mount St. Helens and another near Mount Adams.

    A bear, deer, coyote and pine martin were among the unsuspecting wildlife to be documented in ongoing efforts to study the movement, population and diversity of carnivores in the forest.

    The Portland conservation group is one of two organizations working in the forest to photograph animals with motion-activated cameras. The Cascade Carnivore Project first captured a picture of a wolverine near Mount Adams in June.

    Task Force Conservation Director Jessica Walz said the cooperative effort between the two organizations will grow. The task force plans to place another camera in the forest by Friday, and hopes to have a total of ten in operation by the end of the year.

    She said some of the equipment could be utilized north of Mount St. Helens in the Cowlitz District of the park.

    “Some of them will come up right to the camera from the scent.” Walz said of the wildlife. “So of course we have deer that come right up and lick the salt deposit.”

    The remote locations each include a Reconyx camera that snaps photos when motion is detected. The stations include baited meat and a hair snag to collect DNA samples when animals stop in for a quick and easy meal.

    The goal is to collect and document information on carnivores, something that Walz said has been in short supply.

    “We have very little data on any carnivores,” she said.

    Along with the usual suspects like bear, coyotes and cougars, Walz said the task force is also on the lookout for signs of rare carnivores like wolverines and wolves.

    A wolverine captured on camera near Mount Adams earlier this year represented the first to be photographed in the Gifford Pinchot following similar footage captured in the Wenatchee National Forest.

    Meanwhile, the task force is part of a group working to create a Washington Wolf Management Plan to prepare for the potential relocation of wolves to the Gifford Pinchot (see sidebar). The species was reintroduced in other Western states, and researchers have said populations could eventually move into Washington.

    Walz said the photographs and data could play a part in that plan, while also providing information on what carnivores occupy which portions of the forest and when.

    “It will allow us to look at any of the projects that are going on, any timber sales and things like that, and make sure they’re monitoring for the right species,” Walz said.

    The photos can be viewed online at the Gifford Pinchot Task force’s Web site at http://www.gptaskforce.org/conservation/gptf-wildlife-cameras-yield-results. Walz said the photographs will be updated as they are collected from the field. The group is also looking for volunteers to help with the effort. For more information call (503) 221-2102.