Assessment of Pacific marten status in Olympic National Park: Are they headed to extirpation?

Project ID: P21AC12349

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: University of Washington

Fiscal Year: 2021

Initial Funding: $86,475

Total Funding: $86,475

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Olympic National Park

Agreement Technical Representative: Weaver, Jerald

Abstract:
This project will generate a better understanding of the status of Pacific martens in the coastal region of Washington State, a species native to the Pacific Northwest and believed to be in risk of extirpation. The project results will aid federal, state, and tribal managers of the species in the development of conservation and management strategies. Knowledge will be shared with the public through several outlets, including the utilization of interagency press releases, technical and public presentations, and technical and public articles. One graduate student at the UW will receive hands-on experience in conducting a research study in wildlife conservation.

Performance Goals: Pacific marten (Martes caurina) are medium-sized members of the weasel family that live in forested habitats. They have a strong association with older forests and forests with complex structure near the ground. Pacific martens once occurred throughout forested regions of the Pacific Northwest. On the Olympic Peninsula, they ranged from low elevation forests near sea level to the upper extent of tree line in subalpine areas. Although other predators were removed from the region (e.g., fisher and wolves), marten persisted and were legally trapped for fur harvest between 1940 and 2018. However, the catch record in the region, which was never high, declined to only 9 in the 1960’s and none since then.

Project Objectives: The overall goal of this project is to collect data on Pacific marten resource selection, population distribution and connectivity, and to assess population status through evaluation of marten genetics, including diversity and
inbreeding.