Our Approach
Now reduced to isolated pockets, the Northwest’s largest squirrel depends on restoring the open, fire maintained dry forests that once sustained its entire range.
Decades of fire suppression and the removal of large, mast producing trees no longer provide the nesting sites, food sources, or visibility western gray squirrels need to survive. The species is now endangered in Washington, with three fragmented populations struggling to persist in forests that have lost their historic structure.
Our work focuses on promoting selective thinning, prescribed fire, and science based restoration that bring back the large trees and patchy understories shaped by frequent, low intensity burns. By supporting these treatments and monitoring habitat gains, we help rebuild the ecological conditions that allow western gray squirrels to recover across Washington’s dry forests.
Current Focus
Work We’re Doing Achieve Western Gray Squirrel Goals
Forest Restoration
We support western gray squirrel recovery by advancing the forest stewardship practices needed to restore the open, fire maintained dry forests this species depends on.
Much of our work focuses on promoting selective thinning, prescribed fire, and other treatments that rebuild the historic forest structure that once sustained connected squirrel populations across Washington. We collaborate with land managers, Tribes, and community partners to identify priority areas where restoration can improve habitat quality and reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire.
Our field observations and partnerships help ensure that forest projects incorporate the habitat features western gray squirrels require for nesting, foraging, and predator detection.
Habitat Recovery
We also track and support emerging habitat gains where fire and thinning treatments are already beginning to restore suitable conditions.
By engaging in planning processes and advocating for science based dry forest management, we help shape projects that maintain large fire resilient trees and reduce dense shrub layers that limit squirrel movement and food availability. Our role is to ensure that restoration actions align with long term recovery needs across the South Cascades, North Cascades, and Puget Trough populations.
Through this work, we help rebuild the ecological foundation necessary for western gray squirrels to persist and expand across their historic range.
Impact & Results
A History of Western Gray Squirrel Work
Western gray squirrel conservation in Washington has evolved through a series of coordinated policy actions, scientific studies, and collaborative working groups aimed at understanding population trends and improving habitat protection.
Establishment of Voluntary Conservation Measures for Habitat Protection in 2013
Formation of a Multi-Stakeholder Workgroup to Evaluate Conservation Progress in 2024
Implementation of Updated Occupancy Studies to Track Population Trends in 2024–2025
Establishment of Voluntary Conservation Measures for Habitat Protection in 2013
In 2013, WDFW and DNR adopted enhanced voluntary conservation measures for western gray squirrels, expanding protections for habitat features essential to the species’ persistence in Washington.
Formation of a Multi-Stakeholder Workgroup to Evaluate Conservation Progress in 2024
By 2024, the two agencies convened a new western gray squirrel workgroup, bringing together diverse stakeholders to evaluate how well those voluntary measures have performed over the past decade.
Implementation of Updated Occupancy Studies to Track Population Trends in 2024–2025
During 2024–2025, WDFW launched updated occupancy studies, generating new presence/absence data to compare against earlier surveys and assess population trends.
Impact & Results
Our Key Accomplishments for Western Gray Squirrels
From protecting critical landscapes to advancing collaborative forest restoration, these efforts deliver lasting benefits for wildlife, habitat connectivity, and climate resilience.
State Endangered Listing
Driving the 2023 uplisting to state endangered
Conservation Northwest publicly pushed for reclassification to reflect ongoing declines, helping elevate urgency and unlock stronger conservation tools at a time when only three isolated populations remain in Washington.
Ecological Indicator Role
Positioning the species as a forest health and climate indicator
Staff consistently framed western gray squirrels as essential to oak and mixed conifer ecosystems, highlighting their role in spreading beneficial fungi and supporting dry forest resilience—strengthening the case for broader habitat restoration.
Forest Planning Integration
Embedding squirrel habitat needs into forest and oak woodland advocacy
Through Forest Field Program work, Conservation Northwest advanced management that retains mature canopy connectivity and oak components, integrating squirrel recovery into landscape scale forest planning rather than treating it as a niche issue.
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