By Alex Day, Director of Marketing/Communications
In the heart of the Pacific Northwest, donors to Washington’s National Park Fund are playing an important role in unraveling the mysteries of the rare carnivores that call the Cascade Range home.
Mount Rainier’s Science for All project, a groundbreaking collaboration between the park and Cascades Carnivore Project, is a community-driven science initiative focused on understanding the behavior, habitat, and conservation needs of these elusive carnivores, aiding in the protection and the preservation of their mountain home.
The Cascade red fox was officially listed as Endangered in Washington in 2023. Now, volunteer community scientists are stepping up to help protect this at-risk carnivore by collecting samples needed to contribute to an assessment of the impact of climate change and other threats to the current Cascade red fox population. Data will inform the next steps for the management of their tiny population.
Volunteers support this work by venturing into the rugged landscapes of the Cascade Range, and collecting and preserving scat samples, which help scientists track the movements and behaviors of these elusive creatures. Scat is of particular interest to researchers because diet analysis sheds light on the variety and proportion of different foods the carnivores are consuming, helping them better understand how threats to the ecosystem – for example, impacts from changing climates on prey species like pika and white-tailed ptarmigan – could impact the fox population over time.
Scat can also provide individual genotypes of foxes, helping estimate population sizes, assess family relationships, and analyze the diversity in the gene pool for conservation purposes.
In 2023, Cascades Carnivore Project trained over 60 community scientists to collect scat samples, focusing on identifying carnivore scats, particularly those of the Cascade red fox and wolverine.
The accomplishments from last year are nothing short of remarkable: 170 carnivore scats have been collected for analysis to date – and counting.
Mount Rainier’s Science for All project serves as a shining example of how collaboration between scientists, donors, and volunteers can pave the way for a brighter future for the mountain mammals and rare carnivores that inhabit Washington’s national parks.
If you’d like to do more, consider signing up as a volunteer. Community-based monitoring allows Mount Rainier National Park to survey more areas and detect changes in populations sooner, while providing memorable experiences for young people and families that foster a sense of community engagement and environmental stewardship.
If you’d like to contribute to this important research, sign up to volunteer at www.cascadescarnivore.org/volunteer.
Looking for other ways to help? Stay up to date on this project by signing up for Cascades Carnivore Project’s newsletter at www.cascadescarnivore.org/news. And help spread the word that feeding a fox is never a good thing to do, even if they approach you. Unfortunately, some foxes in Mount Rainier National Park have become habituated to receiving handouts from visitors, but you can join us in helping preserve the Cascade red fox population by helping ensure others know not to feed them.
Cover photo provided by Gretchen Kay Stuart
Washington’s National Park Fund is the official philanthropic partner to Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. We raise private support to preserve and protect Washington’s national parks, funding scientific research, youth and family experiences, and projects that will keep these parks strong and vital now and forever, for everyone.