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Successful trainings for upcoming Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project season

By Laurel Baum, Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project Coordinator

We had three days of successful spring trainings this past month for our Citizen Science Monitoring Project!  

Sixteen team leaders and 30 team members showed up for our weekend of setting wildlife game-cameras, talking about track and sign, ways to read the landscape and details of our scientific protocol and information about the Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project. 

We also completed our training tour with the northeast Washington Canada lynx training in Colville, WA with our partner Professor Dan Thornton from Washington State University, adding three teams and six volunteers to the project.  

CWMP Coordinator Laurel Baum talks to volunteers. Photo: CWMP
CWMP Coordinator Laurel Baum talks to volunteers. Photo: CWMP

This summer we will have 23 survey areas across the state of Washington, nine of which have been maintained by volunteers and are functional year round.  These survey areas target specific species they are hoping to document on the cameras as well as the goal of obtaining genetic samples in some cases.  

The survey areas focus on monitoring different target species, as follows: nine wolverine sites, three I-90 general wildlife sites; one grizzly bear site in the North Cascades; seven wolf sites in the Southern Recovery Zone (south of I-90); and three Canada lynx sites in northeast Washington. 

Our volunteers have been busy setting cameras on the landscape since the training – with cameras set in Lone Butte and Walupt Lake; Gifford-Pinchot National Forest, Gold Creek and Price Creek; and the I-90 Corridor.  Below are pictures from a new wolverine set in the Chiwaukum Mountains, a site that is south of Highway 2 and will complement our Union Gap wolverine site, which is north of the highway.     

Not a bad place to volunteer! Photo: CWMP
Not a bad place to volunteer! Photo: CWMP
A run pole set up at the Chiwaukum wolverine site. Wolverines climb onto the run pole and look up at the dangling bait while monitoring cameras snap photos. Photo: CWMP
A run pole set up at the Chiwaukum wolverine site. Wolverines climb onto the run pole and look up at the dangling bait while monitoring cameras snap photos. Photo: CWMP

The Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project is a huge collective effort of passionate outdoors men and women who dedicate much of their free time to helping provide our state agencies, biologists, and partners with valuable information about the presence of rare species that call our state home. We truly would not be the long-term monitoring project without the support and effort of our volunteers.  

Attendees observe a camera site set-up. Photo: CWMP
Attendees observe a camera site set-up. Photo: CWMP
CWMP advisor Dave Moskowitz talks to training attendees. Photo: CWMP
CWMP advisor Dave Moskowitz talks to training attendees. Photo: CWMP

I would also like to thank Tanner Humphries for his diligence and attention to detail over the past six months as the CWMP Intern – you have done a phenomenal job and made the transition into this position seamless.  Wishing you the best in your future endeavors – carrying out alpine research in the North Cascades National Park and as a research tech for snow leopard research in Kyrgyzstan!  

We would also like to welcome Sydney Romero and Jason McCue, who are transitioning into the intern positions for the summer – welcome to the team!  

Thank you so very much!

-Laurel