Environmentalists Want Wolverines Protected
Author Unknown
December 27, 2000

SISKIYOU COUNTY - An elusive animal that some people believe to exist in the higher elevations of Siskiyou County is the subject of a lawsuit intended to give it greater protection.

A handful of environmental groups are suing the federal government to give wolverines Endangered Species Act protection in Southern Oregon and Northern California.

There's no hard evidence that wolverines are present in the region, but several people have claimed to have seen them, or at least their tracks. And those claiming to have spotted the large member of the weasel family aren't just weekend sightseers, but biologists for the government and Indian tribes.

"We still have some of them in the Klamath Mountains," said Felice Pace of the Klamath Forest Alliance. "It's thought to be one of the better places for them that's still around."

Although Pace hasn't seen a wolverine in Siskiyou County, a worker for the Karuk tribes said he spotted one. A pair of federal and state biologists doing an aerial survey of Mount McLoughlin west of Klamath Falls, Ore., spotted wolverine tracks in 1998. Biologists also spotted tracks in the Umpqua National Forest near Diamond Lake, Ore.

The sightings by the biologists led the Forest Service to approve wolverine searches this winter in the Winema National Forest in Southern Oregon.

The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Predator Conservation Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife and Northwest Ecosystem Alliance announced they will sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in hopes of getting protection for wolverines.

Pace said wolverines, which weigh up to 60 pounds and look similar to badgers, have a home range of about 500 square miles. That makes them difficult to monitor.

The last sighting he heard of in Siskiyou County occurred near Dillon Creek, located about 20 miles down the Klamath River from Happy Camp.

Several hunters reported seeing what they thought were wolverines in the Rogue River National Forest of Southern Oregon in the early 1990s.

A California study using bait to lure animals to an area to collect tracks failed to turn up any sign of wolverines.

Wolverines are nocturnal predators.

A listing could lead to restrictions on logging, mining and other activities on federal lands.

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