Endangered Species Act Protection Sought For Vulnerable Olympic Marmots In Washington

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking to protect Olympic marmots under the Endangered Species Act. These rare marmots are exclusively found on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

“These giant, fluffy denizens of alpine meadows are icons of the Pacific Northwest, but if we don’t protect them, they could disappear,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center. “Climate change and the loss of wolves from the Olympic Peninsula have changed things in the mountains, and our beloved marmots are paying the price.”

Olympic marmots are a unique species of large, ground-dwelling squirrels that live in alpine and subalpine meadows and rocky slopes, with most of their habitat falling within the Olympic National Park. They spend up to eight months hibernating each year and then double their body weight during the summer.

Olympic marmots have the smallest range and population of any marmot species in the United States. Just 2,000 to 4,000 of the marmots are believed to be alive today.

A severe population decline was observed in the 1990s. By 2006, 60% of known Olympic marmot colonies were unoccupied. Predation by coyotes is believed to be the main reason for these declines. In one study, coyotes accounted for 85% of all documented marmot predation events.

While the marmot population has stabilized since the mid-2000s, climate change and coyotes remain serious threats.

Coyotes were historically absent from the Olympic Peninsula, but moved in after wolves were eradicated from the area in the early 20th century. Coyotes hunt at higher elevations than wolves, including above the treeline, where marmots live.

Facilitating natural colonization or reintroducing wolves to the Olympic Peninsula from British Columbia, where coastal wolves likely represent the closest living relatives of the wolves formerly found on the peninsula, could give marmots a better chance at survival.

Olympic marmots are also threatened by climate change, which is predicted to wipe out most alpine meadow habitat across the United States over the next century as trees move uphill to adapt to a warming climate. This will reduce and fragment the remaining meadow habitat where Olympic marmots live. Climate change is also resulting in less spring snowpack, which allows coyotes to occupy higher terrain, placing the marmots at even greater risk.

“Beautifully, flowered alpine meadows like those on Hurricane Ridge are yet another thing we’re at risk of losing in our warming world,” said Greenwald. “The time is now to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas pollution to save the Olympic marmot and so much more.”

Despite the threats they face, Olympic marmots are not harmed by tourism and are frequently seen sunbathing and foraging in popular hiking areas of the Olympic National Park, like Hurricane Ridge. They were named as the state endemic mammal by the Washington State Legislature in 2009.

Endangered Species Act protection would allow the Service to craft strong safeguards and a recovery plan to ensure that Olympic marmots survive into the future. The Service now has 90 days to decide whether protection for the Olympic marmot may be warranted.