Protecting Canada Lynx, Lynx Canadensis

The importance of the Kettle River Mountains to lynx and lynx recovery.

Between 50 and 100 Canada lynx likely reside in Washington today across the North Cascades, Kettle Mountain Range, and Selkirk Mountains. A small population of fewer than 50 Canada lynx occupies high-elevation forests in the North Cascades, almost entirely within the western half of Okanogan County.

In Washington, lynx were listed as a state endangered species in 1993, and, by 2000, a federally endangered one. That came after years of intentional trapping, accidental hunting and habitat loss due primarily to wildfire throughout the western U.S. A 2019 habitat feasibility study identified the Kettle Mountain range as suitable lynx habitat. An additional bonus was they are geographically connected to lynx populations in Canada. Lynx are identified as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) under the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) and a Priority Species under WDFW’s Priority Habitat and Species Program.

What makes the Kettle Range so attractive to lynx – the high numbers of snow-shoe hares

Biologists estimate the Kettle Range contains relatively high densities of snowshoe hares, approximately 0.6-3.6 hares/hectare. According to Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) “habitat conditions in the Kettle Range appear adequate to support lynx as demonstrated by estimates of relatively high hare densities (0.6-3.6 hares/ha).” This is, in part, why WDFW determined the Kettle Range contains quality habitat essential to lynx conservation and why the state agency recommended the Kettle Range be included in designated lynx critical habitat.

The range is central to the long-term recovery of lynx in Washington, and in the lower 48 States. This is why the Kettle Range is designated a “core area” for lynx recovery in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS’s) 2005 recovery outline . The range is a “stronghold” for lynx conservation and a place where lynx reproduction has been documented and where lynx were routinely trapped and killed in Washington.

Lynx Decline

Historically, the Kettle Range was the home of the highest levels of lynx take in Washington. In fact, lynx were once considered numerous in the Kettle Range. During the peak of 1969, 26 of the 31 lynx trapped and killed in Washington were from the Kettle Range in Ferry County. In 1975, 14 of 19 lynx taken in Washington came from the Kettle Range. In 1976, 17 of 39 taken in Washington came from the Kettle Range.

During one trapping season in the mid-1970s, two local trappers reported taking 35 lynx in the Kettle Range alone. Additionally, approximately 35 percent of all lynx trapping records from Washington – 82 individual lynx – were from the Kettle Range. The neighboring Okanogan Range to the west of the Kettle Range accounted for 25 percent of all lynx trapping records and neighboring Stevens county to the east of the Kettle Range accounted for ten percent of lynx trapping records. Lynx were considered to be present and reproducing in the Kettle Mountains well into the 1970s but biologists surmise the local population was likely over-trapped. A trapper from Ferry County stated that he trapped and killed 23 lynx in a single year in the Kettle Range during his best year in the mid-1970s.

Notably, the location of the Kettle Range is important for lynx because it provides connectivity between lynx in the lower 48 States and lynx in Canada and connectivity between sub- populations of lynx in the lower 48 States.

Lynx frequently travel through the Kettle Range as they travel to/from British Columbia and across the international boundary with Canada. Modeling for lynx habitat connectivity in Washington identified viable connectivity between the North Cascades, the Kettle Range and the Wedge, and the Northern Rocky Mountains and Canada.

Recovery Efforts

In 2000, the Kettle Range was designated as occupied lynx habitat by the Forest Service and the agency noted that the area likely supported a resident, breeding population. In 2001, WDFW prepared a recovery plan for lynx in Washington. In the recovery plan, WDFW mapped all lynx analysis units (“LAUs”) in the Kettle Range. Below is a reproduction of these analysis units created by WA Department of Natural Resources. The original figure from WDFW is located on page 14 of the WDFW 2001 Recovery Plan for Lynx.

WDFW’s 2001 lynx recovery plan also documents evidence of lynx occupancy in the Kettle Range. Based on verified data collected from annual lynx surveys which included snow tracking, automated camera sets, and hair snares conducted in six “lynx management zones” – including the Kettle Range – WDFW noted that it routinely documented lynx presence in the Kettle Range. This includes confirmed lynx tracks in the Kettle Range in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2000, as well as “other unconfirmed, but considered highly likely report of lynx in the Kettle Range” from 1996, 1997 and 2000. (Bishop, M. October, 2023)

State Recovery Efforts

In Washington, WDFW has partnered/cooperated with federal and other state agencies, tribes, universities, and conservation organizations to conduct and contribute to lynx surveys and research in Washington.

Colville Tribes releases Lynx into Washington’s Kettle Range in ongoing recovery effort

In 2022, 10 Canada lynx were released into the Kettle Range as part of a five-year tribal effort to reintroduce the felines into Washington State. In 2021, biologists captured and released nine collared lynx with a goal of releasing 10 a year, Rose Piccinini Colville Tribes senior wildlife biologist said. Two of those animals returned to Canada and biologists retrapped them this fall, thus there are only 17 animals in the Kettles, she said. That was hardly a setback, as the path those animals took from the U.S. to Canada revealed important information about habitat linkage.“We’re hoping to protect those critical habitat linkages,” Piccinini said. Since the project started in 2021, tribal officials have released 19 lynx. The goal of the project is to establish a stable, reproductive population of Canada lynx within the reservation and North Half. In order to achieve this goal, we began a trap and transport effort in 2021 to relocate up to 50 Canada lynx to the reservation that is scheduled to take approximately 5 years.

Currently, biologists estimate that fewer than 50 lynx remain in Washington.

Current Threats

Federal The Canada lynx was first listed as a threatened species under the ESA in 2000, providing federal protections to help the snow-loving species’ resilience under threats from human activity and climate change. Under President Donald Trump’s first administration, federal officials unsuccessfully sought to revoke the lynx’s threatened listing.

In late 2023 USFWS finalized a recovery plan for Canada lynx, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and proposed new critical habitat designations to increase federal protections for the winter-adept felines in some areas. Both this recovery plan and the proposed habitat rule may be in jeopardy under President-elect Trump’s second term. The proposed critical habitat rule is open for public comment until Jan. 28, 2025, and the agency is expected to make a final decision by the end of next year.