According to Sightline’s Cascadia Scorecard—a regional progress report for the Northwest—several of the region’s wildlife icons are still at risk. The Scorecard’s wildlife indicator measures current populations of salmon, orcas, wolves, caribou, and sage-grouse compared to their historical abundance. Overall, gains for salmon, orcas, and wolves outweighed declines in caribou and sage-grouse, pushing the index to an all-time high. Still, more progress is needed.
Northwest Wildlife Icons Still at RiskBrief summary: Mixed results for five species
- In 2009, more than 300,000 chinook passed the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam—a 29 percent increase over the previous year.
- Puget Sound orcas experienced a baby boom, adding five new orcas last year—welcome news after a decline in the previous year.
- Despite the first recreational wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana last year, wolf populations continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate than the years before.
- In 2010, biologists counted only 43 animals in the Selkirk caribou herd, 3 fewer than the previous two counts.
- Oregon’s greater sage-grouse experienced a precipitous decline in 2008. It’s still unclear whether the drop was due to natural population cycles or something else.
For links to charts showing the abundance of various species, see Wildlife Abundance for Five Indicator Species.
For maps showing current and historic ranges of some of the Northwest’s wildlife species, see Maps: Current and Historic Wildlife Ranges.
Published: June 24, 2010