The genetic testing of our most recently collected bear and marten hair samples is complete, and we’re quite pleased with the results. Last summer’s sampling for bears generated genotypes (or genetic “fingerprints”) for 234 black bears, bringing our grand total to 561 individuals identified from across the North Cascades Ecosystem of Washington. No grizzly bears were  identified from last summer’s samples (but we’re conducting more grizzly surveys this summer). Meanwhile, CCCP’s  efforts to collect hairs from martens last winter yielded 28 individual identifications, for a grand total of 73 martens from the I-90, Route 2, and Highway 20 areas. Now we move forward with our analyses to examine how highways might be affecting the movement of bears and martens across the North Cascades Ecosystem. Stay tuned!

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