Forests & Wildlife

Viewed from above Vashon-Maury Islands are a green gem in the heart of the rapidly urbanizing Seattle-Tacoma-Kitsap metropolitan area. Through wildlife camera studies, DNA testing and other projects we seek to understand the importance of island forest habitat for both resident and migratory species.

DNA Studies

Do we have a unique vole species on Vashon? How interbred is our coyote population and where did they come from? Are the fish in our creeks unique? DNA technologies provide us with non-invasive ways of answering these important questions.

Using dead voles hunted by residents’ cats we are working with science adviser Ellen Kritzman, the Slater Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound, and University of Washington Burke Museum of Natural History to investigate a long-held question about whether Vashon-Maury is home to a unique vole.
Volunteers who collect coyote scat and process it for DNA analysis help us answer questions about the distribution, population dynamics, levels of migration and emigration, relatedness, and origin of our coyotes.
Using DNA fin clips of spawned-out salmon carcasses, our SalmonWatchers help us collect important data that will identify the stocks and genetic variability of the different species of salmon and trout returning to our island creeks. This also adds crucial information to a salmon DNA library being created for the entire Salish Sea.
We are working with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on a pilot project that tests environmental DNA (eDNA) as a method of determining which fish inhabit our streams just by taking a water sample!