January 2002

Contact: Steve Pozzanghera, (360) 902-2506 or
Tim Waters, (360) 902-2262

• In 1999 and 2000, up to seven grizzly bears were observed foraging in Canada less than 3 miles north of the Washington-Canada border. The bear observations were approximately 30 miles away from the Washington portion of the Selkirk Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone.

• Because of the need for monitoring grizzly bear populations within established recovery zones, and because of the sightings of the seven grizzly bears in British Columbia just across the Washington border, WDFW biologists in 2000 recommended that a pilot "hair snare" project be implemented within Washington in portions of the Selkirk Recovery Zone and about 28 miles west in a rugged area known as "the Wedge." The proposal was to set up hair snare stations where any grizzly bear presence could be verified by laboratory DNA analysis of hair follicles collected at hair snare stations. The purpose of setting up snare stations in the Wedge was to determine if grizzly bears might be moving back and forth across the border in this area.

• Although funding was not secured for the entire proposal, the Boise-Cascade Corporation did fund a significant part of a smaller scale "pilot" bear hair-snare survey in northern Stevens County located in "the Wedge" area. The project was carried out cooperatively by the Boise-Cascade Corporation, the U.S. Forest Service, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Boise-Cascade provided field labor support and paid the cost of laboratory genetic analyses of hair samples collected.

• The study was conducted from April through June of 2001. A total of 15 hair snare stations were established in the "wedge" and checked about once a week for approximately seven weeks. Any usable clumps of hair found at the stations were removed, packaged, labeled, and sent to the laboratory for genetic analysis. A total of 98 hair samples were collected from the 15 snare stations.

• In addition to the hair snare sites in the Wedge, three hair samples were collected in British Columbia in the vicinity of the area where grizzly bears had been observed. The purpose of these collections was to identify individual grizzly bears on the B.C. side of the border in case they were subsequently detected at hair snare stations on the Washington side of the border.

• The study investigators also sought to collect a couple of control samples of known grizzly bear hair in order to test the effectiveness of the lab. All agencies participating in the study were aware control samples would be collected, and explicit discussions on the use of control sample protocol were held with supervisors within WDFW and Boise-Cascade, the project sponsor. The use of control samples with full knowledge of all cooperators is a common scientific approach to assess lab analysis.

• To obtain a control sample, a WDFW biologist in May, 2001 contacted a local Colville sport hunter who had a grizzly bear pelt from Alaska, who agreed to provide a sample to test the lab. The sample was submitted to the lab as sample #20, with a site number that was not associated with any of the hair snare stations (C-1).

• Although an attempt was made to obtain a second control sample from a grizzly bear mount belonging to a private citizen, that attempt was unsuccessful.

• A total of 102 hair samples were submitted for analysis:
  • 98 were collected from the 15 hair snare stations in the Wedge (19 from snare stations on Boise-Cascade land; 55 from stations on DNR land; and 24 from stations on USFS land).
  • 3 were collected from just over the border in Canada in the area where the grizzly bears had been observed.
  • 1 control sample of known origin collected from an Alaskan grizzly bear pelt belonging to a local Colville sport hunter.

• The 102 samples were sent to a laboratory in British Columbia for analysis. In October, 2001, the results were mailed to WDFW, USFS and Boise-Cascade. The lab was unable to extract DNA from 7 of the samples that were collected from the 15 stations in the Wedge. They were able to extract DNA from the remaining 95 samples (91 from the Wedge, 3 from Canada and 1 control).

• Ninety-two of the 95 samples were determined to be from black bears. Only one sample produced genetic data consistent with grizzly bear DNA - a sample which came off a barbed wire fence from just over the border in British Columbia. There were no grizzly bear detections from the 15 snare stations in the Washington Wedge.

• Of the remaining 2 samples, one failed to produce any data after two attempts by the lab (Sample # 102 from British Columbia), and the second (the control sample, # 20, labeled as C-1) produced a weak, mixed signal. When the lab further tested the C-1 sample, they did not obtain a reliable result and the sample was treated as a failed sample. It is possible that difficulty in identifying the sample may have resulted from the chemicals used during the tanning process, which typically destroys DNA.

• The lab was subsequently notified that the control sample had been sent. The senior geneticist indicated that the lab appreciated receiving controls samples to test their accuracy.

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