1) Volunteers
who like to spend time snowshoeing, hiking, and learning
more about wildlife can contribute to conservation efforts
by joining the Keeping Track® Project of Northeast Connecticut
(KTPNC).
The
Pomfret Center’s first Citizen Science project, Keeping Track® Project of Northeast Connecticut
(KTPNC),
is in its seventh year and receives support from the NewAlliance Foundation. Volunteers train with Susan Morse,
founder of Keeping Track®, a Vermont-based non-profit
organization with a mission to train citizen scientists.
“Keeping Track® is a community wildlife monitoring
program that teaches volunteers how to detect and interpret
animal signs,” said Susan Morse. “Through increased
understanding of the principles of habitat selection by
target species, our volunteers learn how to apply this knowledge
to a precise data collection program that over time creates
a picture of habitat usage in a town or region.” (Click here to visit www.keepingtrack.org)
Connecticut
Audubon Society’s Citizen Science Coordinator, Paula
Coughlin, organizes Vermont trips and local training hikes
throughout the year. The focus is on learning to identify
tracks and signs of bobcat, moose, river otter, fisher,
mink and black bear, mammals that require large, diverse
habitats. Volunteers learn to interpret the clues animals leave behind in the forest
as they locate tracks, animal scat, marks on trees and
signs of feeding.
KTPNC
volunteers collect important wildlife data. As agricultural
lands have been allowed to re-forest, populations of deer,
coyote and other mammals have grown throughout Connecticut.
Sightings of black bear, moose and fisher show these species
are moving south into their former ranges. Records of the
Connecticut’s DEP show densely populated parts of
Connecticut are experiencing increasing conflicts between
the needs of people and the needs of wildlife.
During
this time of increased development pressures, it is critical
for the towns to preserve large tracts of open space connected
by wildlife corridors. Trained citizen scientists can contribute
important data necessary for making land use decisions that
ensure protection of local wildlife habitats. The data will
also be useful to conservation organizations such as The
Green Valley Institute, local land trusts and The Nature
Conservancy.
Keeping
Track® volunteers are a diverse group of community members
ranging in age from 26 to 60-plus who share a common interest
in wildlife and open space preservation. Trained volunteers
work in groups to monitor study sites quarterly.
Full
training is 6 days and two evenings, spread throughout the
year. Volunteers pay for the Keeping Track® training
(approximately $75/day) and accommodations and travel. Volunteers
may begin training on any of the scheduled sessions; make-up
days can be arranged. Call
the Center at Pomfret, 860-928-4948 for fees and schedules.
Update and Fall 2007 Program Information:
Our mammal monitoring program continues to attract wildlife enthusiasts. As of August 2007, we have compiled four years of data for two of our study sites (Natchaug Forest and Woodstock), and two years of data for the Willington site. Signs of black bear, bobcat, moose, mink, otter and fisher have been documented. Twice we’ve found what appear to be mountain lion tracks! Volunteers have fun learning about our local wildlife and make a valuable contribution to conservation efforts. Our trained Citizen Science volunteers monitor the presence of large mammals on study sites in northeast Connecticut four times a year.
The project receives support from the NewAlliance Foundation.
Fall 2007 Program Information:
a) Fall Mammal Monitoring Training Hike: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Fee: $50 CAS Members, $60 Non-members.
b) Introductory Tracking Program: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007, 7 p.m.
Fee: $5 CAS Members; $10 Non-members.
Town of Pomfret Vernal Pools Inventory and Training
2) Have
you ever heard a wood frog chorus “quacking”
from the woodlands on a warm March day? Maybe you’ve
found a spotted salamander crossing the road on a rainy
spring night. You may have a vernal pool in your neighborhood. Vernal pools are small, woodland bodies of water that are
critical breeding habitat for many amphibians. In the spring of 2008,
volunteers will again collect data on vernal pools
as part of Connecticut Audubon Society’s Citizen Science
project, the Pomfret Vernal Pool Inventory.
Spring 2007 marked the third season of documenting vernal pools in the town of Pomfret, in partnership with the Pomfret Conservation Commission. The project received support through a partnership grant from the Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor. More than 70 vernal pools have been documented to date. The Pomfret Conservation Commission is creating a vernal pool map for use by the Wetlands Commission to make land-use decisions. Two introductory programs will be held in March 2008 to recruit more volunteers for the next season. For
more information, to register, or to report the location of
a vernal pool in the town of Pomfret, please call 860-928-4948 or e-mail paulacoughlin@charter.net.
StreamWalk
3) StreamWalk Volunteers attend a 3-hour training to learn how to collect information about a stream channel and surrounding land use and document possible impairments to water quality that may warrant further investigation. Trained volunteers walk sections of tributaries to the Quinebaug River watershed in northeast CT collecting valuable information about depth, vegetation and condition of the streambed. Training sessions in June; scheduled field trips July and August. Once trained, volunteers can join Citizen Science Coordinator Paula Coughlin on scheduled "Streamwalks" or they can collect data on their own on selected stream segments during the summer.
4) Rapid Bioassessment for Volunteers: In a 3-hour training, volunteers learn how to collect aquatic river insects -- "riffle-dwelling macroinvertebrates" like stoneflies and dragonfly nymphs -- that are an indication of water quality. Trained volunteers collect data on specific streams in northeast Connecticut and provide valuable water quality data to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (that is posted on DEP's website) and local conservation groups. Trainings are held in early September; field work takes place throughout the fall.
Connecticut Audubon Society’s Rapid Bioassessment and StreamWalk projects receive support from the Watershed Assistance Small Grants Program conducted in association with the CT Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act and administered by the Rivers Alliance of Connecticut.
For more information, please contact contact Citizen Science Coordinator
Paula Coughlin at 860-928-4948 or paulacoughlin@charter.net.
