The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Adirondack Program announced a call for volunteers to help survey roadsides in the Black River Valley this winter as part of the WildPaths citizen science project.

With the help of local citizen scientists using snow-tracking to gather data, WildPaths is expected to provide important information about where wildlife are crossing roads in several towns in the Black River Valley. The results are hoped to help guide conservation actions to maintain and enhance habitat connectivity between the Adirondacks and Tug Hill region.

Two free workshops for members of the public interested in learning about wildlife tracking are being held to kick off WildPaths. No experience is necessary. The first workshop will be at the White Otter Club in Woodgate on December 7th, and a second will be held at BROEP’s Black River Forest Campus on December 8th. Participants in the daylong workshops will receive training in how to interpret and read wildlife tracks, including a classroom introduction and a variety of indoor and outdoor tracking exercises.

WildPaths volunteers are expected to survey a mile-long stretch of road in the towns of Steuben, Remsen, Boonville, Forestport, Ava, or Western, and will report on the wildlife tracks and signs that they observe during their surveys. Participants in the training sessions will learn more about WildPaths and have the opportunity to sign up to help with surveys, but there is no commitment required for attending the training sessions.

Anyone interested in attending the training sessions can get more information and register for one of the trainings by calling 518-891-8872 or emailing lkarasin@wcs.org.

The Wildlife Conservation Society is undertaking the WildPaths project in coordination with multiple partners involved in the Staying Connected Initiative. Partner groups include the Tug Hill Commission, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust, and The Nature Conservancy. The Staying Connected Initiative is a partnership dedicated to maintaining and enhancing ecological connectivity across the Northern Forest.

Illustration by Nancy Bernstein.