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Priority Mapping of Forest Carnivores in the American West

By David Gaillard, Forest Program Associate

At the "Carnivores 2000" conference in November 2000, hosted by Defenders of Wildlife, I presented the results from Predator Conservation Alliance's research into priority habitat areas for lynx, wolverine and fisher, as well as our estimated population status for these species across the western U.S.

Priority Habitat Areas
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Forest Carnivore Sightings
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PCA compiled all records of these forest carnivores from the U.S. Forest Service and the natural heritage programs of eight western states. We highlighted the areas of public lands where the species were located, and sorted the locations by date, which resulted in a coarse approximation of current versus historic range. Overlapping data from the three species revealed priority habitat for all three species, and for various combinations of the three. Finally, we extrapolated estimated "densities" of each species (average population numbers per area of land) across the areas with current observations to estimate current population numbers for fisher, lynx and wolverine.


The naturally low numbers of each of these species, plus the reduced areas where they are known to occur clearly indicates that all three species are imperiled. When you further consider that these few animals are increasingly isolated from each other, the situation is dire. This analysis was fundamental in our petition to list the wolverine for Endangered Species Act protections this summer. The priority habitat mapping will strengthen PCA's ongoing efforts to ensure on-the-ground protections for all three species in the years ahead.





The naturally low numbers of each of these species, plus the reduced areas where they are known to occur clearly indicates that all three species are imperiled.

The priority habitat mapping will strengthen PCA's ongoing efforts to ensure on-the-ground protections for all three species in the years ahead.


Predator Conservation Alliance
PO Box 6733
Bozeman, Montana 59771
phone 406-587-3389
fax 406-587-3178

pca@predatorconservation.org