For the first time since 1924, a wild wolf is roaming the State of California.
According to the California Department of Fish and Game and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, on December 29, 2011, a wolf crossed into a remote area of Siskiyou County north of Mt. Shasta.  The young male wolf was born in the Hells Canyon area of the Snake River in northeastern Oregon in 2009.  Biologists outfitted the wolf with a GPS tracking device in February 2011 and have been receiving location information ever since.  The map below shows the path of the wolf, dubbed OR-7 by researchers.

Wolf Recovery in Northern California
Many people are asking:  Can wolves live in California?  Most people think of Yellowstone National Park, Idaho or Montana when they think of wolf habitat.  While it may seem a little strange at first, California has extensive areas of suitable habitat for wolves.  In particular, large wilderness areas such as the Marble Mountains, Trinity Alps and backcountry areas around Lassen and Mt. Shasta have high potential to support wolves.  Furthermore, once re-established in northern California, wolves could feasibly repopulate the Sierra Nevada which contains a large amount of suitable habitat in its own right.  Researchers modeling the suitability of habitat for wolf recovery determined that the southern Oregon Cascades and vast areas of northern California’s wild areas would support wolves (Carroll et al. 2006).  For a comparison of our region to core wolf country in the northern Rockies, the maps below show suitable habitat if lands are managed for restoration of natural processes and wildlife populations.  Of particular importance is the removal of roads.  Darker green indicates the best habitat while light green and red show less suitable habitat that would act as linkage areas.

Suitable wolf habitat in Northern California and Southern Oregon

Suitable wolf habitat in Idaho, Montana and greater Yellowstone

The questions and answers about wolves returning to California are becoming clearer day by day.  As biologists learn more about wolf behavior in Oregon, this knowledge will be directly applicable to California.  As leading wolf researchers have argued, large predators can make a comeback to California (Carroll et al 2001).   We are now beginning to see the proof.

At EPIC, we intend to advocate for wolves as strongly as we advocate for all native biological diversity in northern California.  That means continuing our important work in defending our forests and wild areas from exploitation and destruction.  Because of this work and the tireless efforts of many individuals to defend and restore our wild landscapes, we can offer something to this wild wandering wolf.   Whether he remains in our region is anyone’s guess, but we hope that he likes what he finds and is joined by more wolves in the near future.

Literature Cited:

Carroll, C., Phillips, M.K., Lopez-Gonzalez, C.A. and N. H. Schumaker.  2006.  Defining recovery goals and strategies for endangered species: the wolf as a case study. Bioscience 56:25-37.  Available at: http://www.klamathconservation.org/docs/carrolletal2001b.pdf

Carroll, C., Noss,R.F., Schumaker, N.H.and P. C. Paquet.  2001.  Is the return of the wolf, wolverine, and grizzly bear to Oregon and California biologically feasible?  Pp. 25-46. In:  Maehr D, Noss RF, Larkin J, Eds. Large Mammal Restoration: Ecological and Sociological Challenges in the 21st Century. Washington (DC): Island Press.

Humboldt Marten at a bait station for observation in Six Rivers NF.

The Humboldt marten, a sub-species of American pine marten, was historically known to range through out the coastal counties of Northern California, and museum specimens exist from the redwoods. The sub-species was thought to be extinct for around fifty years until 1995, when researchers found a small population of martens in Northern California living within the historic range of the sub-species in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Recent genetics tests indicate martens in this relictual Northern California population are similar genetically to the museum specimens, as well as coastal marten in Oregon. Both coastal marten subspecies (M. a. humboldtensis and M. a. caurina) are genetically different from the Sierra population (M. a. sierrae) in Eastern California.

Survey results over the last 15 years demonstrate that the American pine marten is absent from large portions of its historical range, with the most severe loss within the range of the Humboldt marten. Most recent surveys (Summer 2008) for the Humboldt marten in Northern California show further reason for concern. While some sites that were previously occupied in 2000-2001 could not be re-visited due to wildfire and back burns, many previously occupied sites did not get detections in 2008. Survey data suggests a decline in marten occupancy at re-visited sites. Most of these sites had the poorest quality habitat. Survey data also suggests that there are currently less than 100 Humboldt marten left in Northern California, but that there could also be less than 50 individuals in this small isolated population. Martens are also absent from many areas of the historical range of M. a. caurina in Oregon.

There is serious reason for concern about the viability of small coastal populations of martens. Extinction in the very near foreseeable future is a very real possibility without protecting this sub-species. Multiple authorities voice concern about the status of marten populations in the Pacific states. The marten is designated as a species of special concern by the California Department of Fish and Game, a vulnerable species by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a sensitive species by the U.S. Forest Service.

Populations of coastal martens in California and Oregon are small and isolated due to distribution of suitable habitat, effects of timber harvesting, and the historical effects of fur trapping. Fur harvests caused local and regional extirpations and declines and decades of protection from trapping have not resulted in the recovery of martens in coastal northwestern California. Martens can still be legally trapped in western Oregon. (more…)

Late last week EPIC and our allies filed a lawsuit asserting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has illegally delayed Endangered Species Act protection for the Pacific fisher, a relative of the mink. Read the full press release here.

This little critter has been decimated by historic fur trappers and their habitat destroyed by widespread old-growth logging. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged in 2004 that the fisher warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act but claimed such protection was precluded by listing of other species considered a higher priority. Hundreds of species have been caught in the purgatory of this “warranted but precluded” designation.