A summary of historical wildlife harvest in North Cascades National Park Complex, Washington
Christophersen RG. 2015. A summary of historical wildlife harvest in North Cascades National Park Complex, Washington. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NOCA/NRR—2015/1084. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
North Cascades National Park Complex, Washington contains two National Recreation Areas (Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas) where hunting is allowed. Little is known about the population status of big game species in the park complex such as mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, Rocky Mountain elk, black bear, cougar, and mountain goat. Information is also limited regarding the population status of furbearers to include bobcat, northern river otter, American beaver, coyote, American marten, American mink, muskrat, raccoon, Western spotted skunk, striped skunk, weasels and various waterfowl and upland game bird species. This lack of information has raised concern over possible harvest impacts to game populations in the park complex and whether these populations are sustainable at current harvest levels. Data were compiled and summarized from available historical harvest reports as obtained directly from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) files and associated website. Data for some species, such as mountain goat, were available for most years dating back to 1948. Data for other species were incomplete or missing completely for some years and were most consistent from 1997–2013. For most species only general recreational harvest numbers were summarized. For some big game species, such as deer, cougar, and black bear, harvest reports were summarized in this document for only those Game Management Units (GMUs) that were within the two National Recreation Areas of the park complex. This included GMUs 426 Diablo and 301/244 Clark. For some species that are known to seasonally migrate to and from the park complex, such as elk, data were summarized from GMUs that were not only within the park complex, but also those that were adjacent, but outside of park boundaries. This included GMUs 437 Sauk, 418 Nooksack, and 243 Manson. There are no hunting units for mountain goats within the park complex. However, 19 goat harvest units adjacent to the park complex were summarized where hunting pressure and movements of goats may influence populations in the park. Harvest reports for furbearers and other small game have been historically reported at the county level, rather than the GMU level. Trapping and hunting harvest reports of small game were summarized for Skagit, Whatcom and Chelan counties, since these counties extend into the two National Recreation Areas of the park complex. Harvest numbers summarized for GMUs 426 Diablo and 301/244 Clark that extend into the two National Recreation Areas of the park complex appear to represent a small fraction of harvest relative to the respective WDFW regional harvest numbers. For example, general deer harvest in GMU 426 Diablo represented 0.57 % of total general harvest for Region 4 and general deer harvest in GMU 301/244 Clark represented 0.49% of total general deer harvest for Region 2 for years 1997–2013. Specific concerns regarding how harvest information is collected and reported are identified and recommendations made for continued harvest summary assessments.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Christophersen, Roger
- Date of Issue
- 2015-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- LACH , NOCA , NRSS , ROLA
- Keywords
- American beaver, American marten, american mink, Black Bear, Black-Tailed Deer, Bobcat, Clark, Cougar, Coyote, Diablo, Furbearer, game, Game Management Unit, GMU, Harvest, harvest impact, harvest level, Historic, Hunting, LACH, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Manson, Mountain Goat, Mule Deer, Muskrat, NOCA, Nooksack, North Cascades National Park Complex, northern river otter, Population, raccoon, Rocky Mountain Elk, ROLA, Ross Lake National Recreation, Sauk, Striped skunk, Trapping, upland game bird, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Waterfowl, WDFW, Weasel, Western spotted skunk, White-Tailed Deer, Wildlife
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Consumptive Use | Consumptive Use