Washington ground squirrel (Urocitellus washingtoni) is a state candidate species in Washington. The population of Washington ground squirrel is low. The Washington ground squirrel is associated with shrubsteppe and steppe in eastern Washington and is threatened by a number of factors, especially habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation.
Habitat concentration areas (HCAs) are defined as significant habitat areas that are expected or known to be important for focal species based on survey data or habitat association modeling(WHCWG 2012). HCAs provide locations from which to model linkages. Additional masked occurence data supplied by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife was merged to the HCA data set by Conservation Biology Institute.