Land protected within the boundaries of Skagit Valley Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada and North Cascades National Park in Washington, is an idyllic slice of pristine wilderness. This area is of special interest due to its unique location and history, not to mention the large area of high quality unfragmented wildlife habitat. In the 1970’s and 80’s, controversy arose over the proposed raising of the existing Ross Lake dam. The proposed height increase of the dam would have flooded a large section of the Skagit Valley on the Canadian side of the border, resulting in habitat loss for a multitude of species. The Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission was born out of these controversies to manage a fund to preserve the area. It is because of the existence of this fund, and the partnership with the National Park Service that BC Parks is now able to carry out a wildlife monitoring project. Through monitoring wildlife, BC Parks can better understand the behaviour and movement of target wildlife species within the Skagit River Watershed. Due to the location of this provincial park on the US/Canada border, it is important for the two countries to work together to understand wildlife populations that we share. This research project is designed to allow Provincial and Federal biologists to identify individual species and family units in the area that will affect the decion making process behind population augmentation, as well benefit our communal knowledge base. Each year we understand more about the animals who share the wilds with us in the Skagit Valley wilderness.
