At CWP, we have our own kind of fall harvest: digging out our favorite wolverine photos from the past year! We’ve collected an incredible array of images captured by both our winter monitoring stations and our dedicated year-round community scientists. Monitoring stations help us identify and track individuals, like the mysterious male who appeared near Mt. Baker this year (photo above–and no, it’s not our old buddy Herman!). In contrast, community science observations cover much more ground and provide valuable insights into when and where wolverines show up across Cascadia. Many of the photos we receive are pure gold!
Our fixed and roaming monitoring strategies work in tandem. Fixed-location stations offer details about individual wolverines and changes in habitat use over time, while our roaming community scientists track wolverine occurrences across the rugged Cascade Mountains. It’s truly enjoyable to read through all the observations submitted by our contributors, or to puzzle through a set of tracks you’ve shared—a task expertly handled by our certified wildlife trackers.
Since 2018, we’ve happily reviewed 368 wildlife observations. Of those, 62 are verifiable wolverine sightings, and 91 are classified as “Likely” or “Definitive” wolverine tracks. That’s remarkable—thank you for your contributions! Stay tuned for more updates on what we are learning from this community science effort.
Studying and caring for the most elusive animals in the mountains requires tremendous effort, collaboration, patience, and support. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to do this work and to be part of a community that cares about wildlife. Please continue to send in your wolverine observations—both sightings and tracks. If you can contribute financially, we need your support, too!
Help us reach our fall fundraising goal of $15,000!
Our grassroots project may be small, but it’s mighty—much like our namesake animal, though a bit friendlier. We maintain a tight budget (again, like the scavenging wolverine) and appreciate EVERY donation, big or small. Your support goes directly toward fieldwork, research, outreach, and community science. From the top of the mountains and the bottom of our hearts, thank you!
Support the Cascades Wolverine Project
