Endangered Species

Not in awhile. It was the early 1990's and a friend took me into woods not far from Leavenworth to see a pair of spotted owls she found in her search for the endangered birds. The male flew to a low branch 15 feet away and watched with intense black eyes. I was delighted that the bird was trusting enough to perch so close. I haven't seen Spotted Owls in Stehekin but three pairs were found last summer in a survey our Park made in the valley. Another encounter with an endangered species was with wolves two years ago. Kinsey Shilling is the Chief Ranger for North Cascades National Park. It was a morning in early summer and Kinsey was hiking into Stehekin on the McAlester Pass trail. Crossing the pass, Kinsey caught sight of movement to his left. Several wolves were running at a diagonal to the trail. When the lead wolf saw Kinsey it stopped and howled. Half of the wolves reversed direction. The lead wolf stayed in place and watched Kinsey until he was out of sight. For about a decade howls have been heard, tracks found and finally, wolves sighted in an area east of where Kinsey had his experience. In July 2008, a wolf pack with pups was discovered. It's the first wolf breeding documented in Washington since wolves were eliminated from the state in the 1930s. In the Park and surrounding Forest Service lands, biologists are studying not just endangered species, but species classified as threatened and also another category, candidate species. Candidate species are species being studied to find out if their situation qualifies them for listing as threatened or endangered. You can find listings of our state's "Species of Concern" and more detailed explanations at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife website. The pileated woodpecker is a candidate species that I see occasionally and whose raucous lunatic laughing call I hear a lot. The black-backed woodpecker, another candidate, is in the valley in areas where we had recent wildfires. The Forest Service is radio collaring wolverines, another candidate, to the north and east of here. Three of the collared subjects have ranges that cross the valley. The western gray squirrel is on the state "threatened" list. A range, including the Stehekin valley and east into the Methow, is one of the few locations in the state where the squirrels still live. In 1992 I first saw one and over time their numbers here have increased. But this population is considered vulnerable to whatever factors are causing the squirrel's decline in other parts of the state. Western Gray Squirrels typically live in oak forests where their diet is acorns. No oaks grow in Stehekin so the original question for biologists was "what do they eat?" The answer is pine and Douglas-fir seeds, insects, berries and mushrooms. A research project is in its second year to find out as much about the squirrels as possible so we can minimize the human impacts that affect the squirrel's survival. Species of Concern aren't limited to mammals and birds. The western toad, Columbia spotted frog and cascades frog are amphibians that we're happy to have. As for fish, the westslope cutthroat trout is still in the upper Stehekin river and its tributaries. Bull Trout are extinct in the Stehekin but might still be in other Lake Chelan tributaries. Threatened and endangered plant species are also included in Species of concern. Owls, wolves, western toads, and the other plants and animals living in the greater North Cascades are fortunate to have an ecosystem of protected lands that hold over 200 million acres to call home. There is an enormous diversity of species here and the chance for many of them to live out their lives as their species have for centuries. But the good part for us humans is the chance to open ourselves up to the call of wild places like the North Cascades to experience the "real world" and come to better understand our place in the family of living things.