Biologists will track elusive squirrel for possible protection

10/30/02

MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian

A native gray squirrel muscled out of its Northwest habitat by invading eastern squirrels and human development may warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act, federal biologists have determined.

The finding will trigger a search for the western gray squirrel in Washington, Oregon and neighboring states and force biologists to decide by late next year whether the elusive critter should be designated a threatened or endangered species in part or all of its range.

Although Washington state considers the western gray squirrel a threatened species, Oregon does not and maintains a hunting season with a bag limit of as many as five squirrels daily.

Historic accounts suggest the squirrels were once common in Oregon's Hood River Valley, for instance, but have declined sharply. A study at Washington's Fort Lewis Military Reservation counted 100 pairs of squirrels in 1992 and 1993, but a more intensive survey in 1999 found six squirrels, said Ted Thomas, supervisor of listing and recovery for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Olympia.

"We consider that a pretty precipitous decline," he said. "We want to know if this is the case all over its range, or just a discrete part of it."

The western gray squirrel is a reclusive animal with three known subspecies that range from Central California north to the Puget Sound. It frequents oak woodlands such as those that once covered much of Western Washington and the Willamette Valley but have since been replaced by urban development.

Western gray squirrels are slightly larger than the more numerous, bold and nonnative eastern gray squirrels that appear to have shouldered aside their western cousins and are now common in Northwest back yards. The two can be distinguished by their coloring: The eastern gray squirrel has a brown cast to its fur, and the western gray squirrel is uniformly gray with brown tufts on its ears only.

In July, the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance and Tahoma Audubon Society petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service for emergency protection of the squirrel, particularly at Fort Lewis. The military reservation holds some of the best remaining oak woodland in Western Washington, the groups argued, and a proposed highway had threatened that habitat.

Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com