DRAFT Periodic Status Review for the Lynx in Washington (2025)

The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is one of three wild felids that are native to Washington. Lynx historically occurred throughout the boreal forests within the Cascade Range and northeastern Washington. Protective measures for the species include a state ban on trapping since 1991, listing as threatened in Washington in 1993, federal listing as threatened in 2000, and uplisting to endangered in Washington in 2016.

A number of conservation actions have been taken since the lynx was listed as endangered in the state in 2016. These actions included lynx-specific surveys and research, multi-species surveys, and an ongoing lynx augmentation in the Kettle Mountain Range being led by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR). Recent survey and research efforts indicated that a single resident population currently occurs in Washington and is restricted mainly to western Okanogan County in the Northeastern Cascades

A number of factors likely contributed to the contraction of lynx range to western Okanogan County since the early 2000s. This population has been impacted by numerous large wildfires in the past 20 years, which removed large areas of suitable habitat. The loss and fragmentation of habitat as a result of wildfires, as well as the direct and indirect effects of climate change (i.e., loss of suitable winter snowpack, increased competition by other mesocarnivores), are considered substantial threats to this population. The effects of small population size, the population’s position at the southern margin of the species’ range, and a possible lack of immigration from British Columbia also likely exacerbate the threats of habitat loss and fragmentation to the remaining lynx population in Washington. Recent survey data indicate that this population has not contracted further since the 2016 periodic status review, but this population may now face more threats and threats of greater severity than in 2016.

Management actions to protect lynx habitat in Washington include the implementation of Endangered Species Act (ESA) provisions (i.e., take prohibition, critical habitat designation, Section 7 consultations), development of the spatial framework for lynx habitat conservation in the western US (Interagency Western Lynx Biology Team 2022), and implementation of the Lynx Habitat Management Plan for lands managed by Washington Department of Natural Resources on the Loomis State Forest (WDNR 2006). Endangered status in Washington provides protection to lynx by prohibiting the malicious harassment, take, or commercial harvest of lynx. Measures that also provide protection for lynx include the prohibition of night-hunting for bobcats in areas occupied by lynx and the prohibition of the use of body gripping traps to prevent injury or death in traps set for other species.

Given the 1) range contraction observed in Washington following protection efforts beginning in the 1990s, 2) the substantial loss of habitat in the last 20 years, 3) small population size, 4) disjunct subpopulations, and 5) the ongoing and anticipated threat of climate change to lynx population persistence, we recommend that lynx remain classified as endangered in Washington.