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WDFW seeks public input on draft status review for Canada lynx

WDFW uplisted the Canada lynx to endangered a decade ago. (Tribune News Service)
From wire services

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on a draft periodic status review for the Canada lynx that includes a recommendation to keep the animal classified as a state endangered species, according to a news release.

The public comment period is open now through March 18.

The conservation status of lynx in Washington has not improved since it was uplisted to state endangered in 2016.

“The primary threat that lynx face remains the loss and fragmentation of habitat resulting from numerous large wildfires,” said Jeff Lewis, WDFW’s lynx species lead. “Given the small, restricted population that remains in Washington and the ongoing and anticipated threats from climate change, including the loss of suitable snowpack and increased competition from bobcats and coyotes, we recommend that the lynx remain classified as endangered in Washington.”

The draft periodic status review for lynx is available on WDFW’s website at https://tinyurl.com/2e6nvhux. The public may submit written comments via email or by mail to Taylor Cotten, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504-3200.

Following the public comment period, WDFW staff will brief the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission on the periodic status review and recommendation. The commission is tentatively scheduled to consider this topic in April 2026.

The Canada lynx, one of three wild cat species native to Washington, historically occupied high-elevation forests in the north Cascade Range and northeastern Washington. The species has received increasing protection since the 1990s, including a state trapping ban (1991), state (1993) and federal (2000) threatened listings, and uplisting from threatened to endangered in Washington in 2016, the release stated. Wildlife managers estimate that 40 to 100 individuals make up the state’s lynx population.

Conservation work includes wildlife surveys, research and a lynx augmentation project led by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to reestablish lynx in the Kettle Range. Outside of the reintroduced animals in the Kettle Range, only a single population of lynx remains in Washington, in the North Cascades, primarily in western Okanogan County.

Small population size, scattered and isolated populations within Okanogan County and the threat of decreasing connectivity to the larger population in British Columbia further elevate risk.

WDFW regularly analyzes and reviews information to inform status and classification recommendations for species listed as endangered, threatened or sensitive in Washington. More information is available on WDFW’s at-risk species webpage at https://tinyurl.com/28ybuksf.