DRAFT Washington State Recovery Plan for the Lynx Prepared by Derek W. Stinson Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Management Program 600 Capitol Way North Olympia, Washington 98501 June 2000 In 1990, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted procedures for listing and delisting species as endangered, threatened, or sensitive and for writing recovery and management plans for listed species (WAC 232-12-297, Appendix C). The lynx was classified by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission as a threatened species in 1993 (Washington Administrative Code 232-12-011). The procedures, developed by a group of citizens, interest groups, and state and federal agencies, require that recovery plans be developed for species listed as threatened or endangered. Recovery, as defined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is “the process by which the decline of an endangered or threatened species is arrested or reversed, and threats to its survival are neutralized, so that its long-term survival in nature can be ensured.” This document summarizes the historic and current distribution and abundance of the lynx in Washington, describes factors affecting the population and its habitat, and prescribes strategies to recover the species in Washington. This is the Draft Washington State Recovery Plan for the Lynx. It is available for a 90 day public comment period. Please submit written comments on this report by 1October 2000 to: Derek Stinson Endangered Species Section Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 600 Capitol Way N Olympia WA 98501 This report should be cited as: Stinson, D. W. 2000. Draft Washington state recovery plan for the lynx. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington. 86 pp. + 5 maps. DRAFT: June 2000i Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ..........................................vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................. vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................ix PART ONE: BACKGROUND ........................................ 1 TAXONOMY ........................................................... 1 DESCRIPTION.......................................................... 1 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION ......................................... 3 North America..................................................... 3 Washington ....................................................... 3 NATURAL HISTORY .................................................... 5 Home Range....................................................... 5 Movements and Dispersal ............................................ 6 Reproduction ...................................................... 7 Mortality .......................................................... 8 Cycles............................................................ 9 Foraging and Food.................................................. 9 Hunting behavior. ........................................... 10 HABITAT REQUIREMENTS ............................................. 11 Denning Habitat................................................... 12 Forage Habitat.................................................... 12 Travel Habitat and Corridors ........................................ 14 POPULATION STATUS ................................................. 15 Past............................................................. 15 Population in the 1800s ....................................... 15 Populations in the 1900s ...................................... 16 Present.......................................................... 18 CONSERVATION STATUS .............................................. 25 Legal Status...................................................... 25 DRAFT: June 2000iii Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Washington ................................................ 25 U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service............ 26 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service .................... 26 Canada.................................................... 26 Colville Tribe ............................................... 26 MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ............................................ 28 Lynx Harvest ..................................................... 28 Research......................................................... 28 LANDSAT habitat analysis .................................... 28 Lynx Surveys..................................................... 28 Carnivore Camera Stations .......................................... 29 Volunteer Observers ............................................... 29 Hair Snags ....................................................... 29 Interagency Committees ............................................. 30 State and Private Lynx Management Plans.............................. 30 Federal Land Management Activities .................................. 32 FACTORS AFFECTING CONTINUED EXISTENCE .......................... 32 Southern Boreal Habitat and Lynx Population Dynamics ................... 32 Prey Biology and Cycles ...................................... 32 Metapopulation dynamics ..................................... 33 Land Ownership and Management Status............................... 34 Forest Management................................................ 36 Timber Harvest ............................................. 36 Fire history and suppression ................................... 37 Forest roads ................................................ 38 Grazing and grass seeding..................................... 38 Forest Management in British Columbia .......................... 39 Competition and predation ........................................... 39 Coyotes.................................................... 40 Incidental hunting and trapping mortalities .............................. 40 Lynx management in British Columbia ................................. 41 Forest Insect Epidemics............................................. 44 Condition of Matrix Habitats......................................... 45 Management of Other Species of Concern: Caribou and Grizzly ............. 45 CONCLUSION ......................................................... 46 PART TWO: RECOVERY .......................................... 48 DRAFT: June 2000iv Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife RECOVERY GOAL ..................................................... 48 RECOVERY OBJECTIVES............................................... 48 Rationale ........................................................ 48 Interim recovery objectives .................................... 48 Recovery Zones............................................. 49 RECOVERY STRATEGIES AND TASKS ................................... 51 REFERENCES CITED................................................... 57 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS ......................................... 69 IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE ......................................... 70 Appendix A. Lynx specimens collected in Washington. ......................... 74 Appendix B. Total known Lynx harvest in Washington by County ................. 78 Appendix C. Washington Administrative Code 232-12-297 ...................... 79 Appendix D: Lynx Analysis Units by LMZ in Washington ....................... 82 DRAFT: June 2000v Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1. Mean annual home ranges (km2) for lynx ............................... 6 Table 2. Density-based estimates of Washington’s lynx population by Lynx Management Zone (WDW 1993). ................................................ 21 Table 3. Lynx conservation in Washington: significant events and publications, 1988-2000. ................................................................ 27 Table 4. Land ownership or jurisdiction of 6 Lynx Management Zones in Washington . 35 Table 5. Lynx harvest in southern Management Units in British Columbia, 1991-98. 44 Figure 1. Comparison of bobcat (left), and lynx (right)............................ 2 Figure 2. Lynx range in North America (modified from Quinn and Parker 1987). ....... 3 Figure 3. Theorized historical distribution of lynx in Washington; historical status in the Blue Mountains is uncertain. .......................................... 4 Figure 4. Subalpine fir, Interior Western Redcedar, Interior Western Hemlock, and Grand Fir Forest Zones in Washington (Cassidy 1997). .......................... 12 Figure 5. Known lynx harvest in Washington, 1961-1991 (includes illegals and museum specimens, excludes “lynx cats”). ..................................... 17 Figure 6. Lynx Management Zones in Washington (as revised June 2000). ........... 18 Figure 7. Lynx occurrence by Lynx Analysis Units; recently = since 1 July 1995. ...... 19 Figure 8. Harvest of lynx in British Columbia from 1920-1998 (from Hatler 1988, and deVos and Matel 1952). ............................................. 41 Figure 9. Subalpine fir zone in Washington (Cassidy 1997) and British Columbia (BC Ministry of Environment)............................................ 43 Figure 10. Lynx, Grizzly Bear, and Woodland Caribou recovery zones in Washington. 46 Figure 11. Lynx Recovery Zones and other potential lynx habitat in Washington. ...... 50 DRAFT: June 2000vi Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report contains material from Status of the North American Lynx (Lynx canadensis) in Washington (Washington Depart. of Wildlife 1993) that was written by Michelle Tirhi, and from an early