Berkshire Wildlife Tracking
Wildlife Monitoring Program

What Is Berkshire Wildlife Tracking(BWT)?

Photos of some events

How are BWT wildlife monitors trained?

How does BWT fit into the
large land protection picture?

What's happening now?

What's next?

Application
(to be trained as a wildlife monitor)

Other Keeping Track group & connections

2006 Event

2007 Event

What Is Berkshire Wildlife Tracking?

Berkshire Wildlife Tracking (BWT) is a program where volunteers are trained by Sue Morse of Keeping Track® to read and document animal sign. Our first class of trainees graduated from the Keeping Track® training program in May 2007. Our second group is just finishing up their training. We are not currently organizing a third group, but perhaps in September 2010.

The training includes six full-day training workshops in the field plus two classroom sessions. Most of the training is done on weekends, and the training is spread out over a year so that trainees have experience in all seasons. (check out the 2008 schedule)

Now trained, these volunteers have formed three teams - North, Central, and South County Teams - and are taking to the woods to gather data on focal mammal species' use of habitat in and around Berkshire County.

Our host organization, Berkshire Environmental Action Team will maintain a database of all this data and share it with scientists, educators, and land protection organizations to help protect wildlife species and important wildlife habitat and linkages in and around Berkshire County.

If you are interested in joining BWT please explore this site for more information.

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How are volunteers trained?

Berkshire Wildlife Tracking (BWT) wildlife monitors are trained in the Keeping Track® program run by nationally recognized naturalist, habitat identification specialist, and photographer Sue Morse.

The trainees will be taught a scientifically-based data collection methodology so that they can prepare track and sign surveys.

Training will include: detection and interpretation of tracks and signs of agreed upon focal species for the Berkshires, conservation biology and how it relates to data collection and land protection, forest ecology and plant identification and what it tells us about how Berkshire species use local habitat, 'search imaging' (Sue Morse's technique for predictably looking in the right places and finding wildlife signs), and an introduction to science-based field studies. The Keeping Track Project and Data Management Protocol will provide standards for data collection. The database will be maintained Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT).

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Permanently protected land in and around Berkshire County

How does BWT fit into the large land protection picture?

Berkshire Environmental Action Team is working with many partner organizations to look at existing and potential linkages among large protected areas in and around the Berkshires as well as looking at where the greatest threat of development disrupting those existing linkages.

We are also looking a where our transportation network intersects those linkages with an eye to decreasing the impact of our road network on ecosystem connectivity.

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What's happening now?

Our second group of BWT wildlife monitors has just completed the Keeping Track® training. We had a small celebration on February 22, 2009, but a snow storm kept our numbers down. We will have another Graduation Celebration in May.

Our first group has formed three Teams - North County, Central County, and South County - although everyone gets together for various activities and trainings and anyone may go out with a different Team as well. Each Team has set up a transect with high likelihood of finding sign of habitat usage by our focal species.

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What's next?

We anticipate accepting applications for our third group of monitors to start training in the fall of 2010. Would you like to take action to ensure that wildlife always has a place in and around the Berkshires? If so, please consider helping out with this program.

If you would like to be trained to be a Berkshire Wildlife Tracking wildlife monitor, here are a few things to consider:

• To complete the training you must be able to be outside in the cold and snow all day.
• You must be able to hike up and down uneven terrain - the groups moves very slowly, looking at track and sign, so the pace is not strenuous.
• You will be asked to commit to approximately one weekend day per month for training, and about the same for monitoring for at least two years?
• You will be asked to pay part of the cost of training. If you cannot afford the entire amount, are you willing to help raise the money?

Have questions? - Please, first take a look at the Keeping Track® website for more information about the training.

Still interested? - Then contact Berkshire Wildlife Tracking Coordinator, Joan Cousins, if you are interested in helping with this program or in being trained as a Berkshire Keeping Track wildlife monitor. Send Joan an email. She would love to hear from you.

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