Cascades Carnivore Project

The Cascades Carnivore Project (CCP) is a collaborative conservation initiative to protect forest carnivore habitat and sustain biodiversity in the Cascade Mountains. Conservation biologists, forest and wildlife managers, and citizen scientists cooperate on efforts to monitor resident carnivore populations and identify wildlife corridors in need of protection.

Research efforts are currently focused in the montane landscape between Mount Rainier and the Columbia River in Washington State. Increased recreation use, development, and timber harvest are important considerations for local citizens, however the impacts of these activities on forest carnivores are not well monitored. CCP endeavors to study key carnivores within the region and supply government managers with the requisite information to effectively conserve threatened populations for the long-term.

CCP is sustained by the efforts of motivated volunteers and dedicated funders including the Oregon Zoo Future for Wildlife Fund program, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and United States Forest Service. Fellow researchers, interested citizens, and wildlife professionals come together to fulfill CCP’s goals. We believe the solution to the current conservation struggle is the safeguarding of human dignity through the involvement of diverse stakeholders in honest, meaningful ways. By creating dialogue and encouraging participation, we are able to demonstrate to individuals the value of preserving nature’s richness.

The Cascade Mountains were once a contiguous corridor of suitable wildlife habitat. Today habitat fragmentation poses potentially insurmountable barriers to the connectivity of wildlife populations across their distributions. Through our conservation initiative we seek to re-establish vital habitat connections along the Cascade Range. This will facilitate genetic exchange within wildlife populations, enhance the ability of sensitive species to persist, and sustain biodiversity. By removing barriers, this significant landscape can be reconnected, allowing threatened wildlife to thrive.