Citizen camera trappers make the news

Citizen wildlife monitors in Washington state were busy this summer camera trapping in Washington’s Central and North Cascades.

Conservation Northwest, the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition, and the Wilderness Awareness School sponsor the Cascades Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project.

The project’s goal is “to engage and educate citizens” as wildlife investigators along a 15-mile-segment of the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass highway.

They set their 43 camera traps in the woods, and were rewarded with thousands of images, including some rarities like gray wolf and Canada lynx.

Lynx were previously more widespread in Washington, but it seems that breeding wolves were completely unexpected.

Neat.

Read about it here, and be sure to check out the links.

Among the commenters are farsighted individuals who don't want taxpayer money wasted on wildlife corridors because elk-wildlife collisions don't affect them. (Aren't they the ones who holler the loudest when an elk totals their car?)

Thanks to Professor Tenaza for the link. (Hey, Rich when are we gonna check the cams in Marin?)