Erika Anderson is sitting in silence on a rocky talus slope just off the McKenzie River Trail, scanning the landscape with binoculars.

In the distance, a small squeak, like the sound of a dog toy, echoes through the forest. It's the sound of an American pika — a cute potato-sized mammal, closely related to rabbits, and exactly what Anderson has been listening for. In a flash, a small brown body with short rounded ears sprints across the rocky slopes and disappears again.

"I see him!" said Anderson, a research assistant for Oregon State University. "He's collecting vegetation, which is fun. They're fast."

Anderson is watching for pikas here in the Central Cascades not only because they're cute, but because they're a "species of greatest conservation need in Oregon" with a small or declin

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