by jhwildlife | May 11, 2016 | Blog, Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, Nature Mapping Jackson Hole
How can you see 458 birds and wildlife in three hours on a Sunday morning in one of the most beautiful locations in the nation without taking a single step? Four words–Snake River Float Trips! This little-known benefit of being a certified nature mapper is in full swing and you can take advantage of it through September.
Generously provided by AJ DeRosa’s Wooden Boat Tours, this adventurous form of citizen science is not all fun and games. Its purpose is to gain a better idea of what species of mammals, birds, and amphibians use the section of river between Wilson Bridge and South Park, which flows mostly through private land where wildlife professionals do not conduct a systematic census.
How do I Sign Up?
Sign up for one of the dates below with the volunteer director of the trips, Tim Griffith at timgrif396@gmail.com. At least one person in your party (max 6) must be a certified JH Nature Mapper and should be the main wildlife spotter and at least one person to be the recorder. The spotter should have at least a basic understanding of the birds and mammals one might see on the Snake River. It costs only $20 to cover the shuttle fees and you’re welcome to tip the guide, if desired.
May 8th Float Trip Report:
The May 8th Snake River Float Trip traveled 8 miles down the river from Rendevous Park to Wooden Boat Adventures River Camp with Kevin Coughlin, Josh Seibel, Carrie Ann Adams, and trip leader (and retired wildlife biologist) Tim Griffith. They mapped 42 species (listed below) with a highlight of spotting 12 bald eagles as there are six nests along this stretch of river and each nest has two adults associated with it.
- Canada Goose 123
- Mallard 49
- Green-winged Teal 5
- Barrow’s Goldeneye 3
- Common Merganser 31
- Double-crested Cormorant 6
- American White Pelican 5
- Great Blue Heron 7
- Turkey Vulture 1
- Osprey 2
- Cooper’s Hawk 1
- Bald Eagle 12
- Red-tailed Hawk 3
- Killdeer 10
- Spotted Sandpiper 28
- Mourning Dove 1
- Belted Kingfisher 4
- Downy Woodpecker 1
- Hairy Woodpecker 1
- Northern Flicker 4
- Black-billed Magpie 2
- Common Raven 12
- Tree Swallow 43
- Bank Swallow 9
- Barn Swallow 4
- Black-capped Chickadee 6
- Mountain Chickadee 1
- Brown Creeper 2
- House Wren 2
- American Dipper 2
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
- Mountain Bluebird 2
- American Robin 19
- European Starling 1
- Yellow Warbler 2
- Chipping Sparrow 2
- Dark-Eyed Junco 2
- Song Sparrow 22
- Green-tailed Towhee 1
- Red-winged Blackbird 2
- Western Meadowlark 1
- Brewer’s Blackbird 12
- Yellow-bellied Marmot 7
- Elk 1
2016 Snake River Float Trips:
MAY: 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th
JUNE: 12th and 26th
JULY: 10th and 24th
AUGUST: 7th and 21st
SEPTEMBER: 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th
Photo credit: STEVE MORRISS
by jhwildlife | Mar 25, 2016 | Blog
Last night we celebrated Nature Mapping Jackson Hole with a unique event that combines a communal potluck dinner with a feature presentation on wildlife science, all within the elegant environment of the Center for the Arts. The fact that it combines family with a love of wildlife and a relentless quest for more wildlife knowledge reflects the enduring spirit that connects many generations here. The Nature Mapping community, as much as anything else, is a manifestation of what it means to live in this particular wild country.
The Nature Mapping Jackson Hole idea, which the local legend Bert Raynes introduced with the help of friends such as wildlife expert Steve Kilpatrick and others, invites us to share our wildlife observations with each other. We can well imagine that much of the conversation at these long tables pictured above revolved around experiences with wildlife. As we look back on the conversations that hatched the Nature Mapping idea, we can also imagine the desire to take our collective stories and pool them together, not only for the good of science, but also to reflect upon and record our shared experience in this wild valley. Thanks to Bert, Steve and the many other members of Bert’s “family” of wildlife nuts, we tell our story together, and wildlife benefits.
Local legend Bert Raynes with a handful of his many friends at the Nature Mapping Community Celebration. Photo: Mark Gocke.
The legacy of Jackson Hole has been shaped by many of the world’s foremost wildlife biologists and conservationists. There are so many names that come to mind that listing them all would fill pages, but from the Muries and Craigheads to Raynes and many past and present contributors, we recognize the connections between all in a Jackson Hole “family tree” that has valued and protected wildlife for well more than a century.
Last night, Jason Wilmot, a renowned wildlife biologist at the Bridger-Teton National Forest, shared the stories and science of his work with a rapt audience. Wilmot has studied wolverines for 16 years, and more recently, lynx. He has done some of his work via the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative and Wyoming Game and Fish Department, reflecting another trait of Jackson Hole’s family tree – many branches are intertwined. There are few people in the world who know what Wilmot knows about wolverines. If our global knowledge of wolverines is minimal, Wilmot is among a select few to thank for the fact that we know much at all. His very evident passion for his work has also had the effect of engaging more people in the “quest for wolverines and lynx.”
Wilmot, like so many before him, demonstrates a commitment to his work that is as fierce as his subject’s. To learn about the wolverine’s tenacity, Wilmot and colleagues have searched tenaciously, gathering data as voraciously as Gulo gulo gathers food. As he describes the sideways gallop of the wolverine, you sense that he, like many great wildlife biologists, has tried to imagine himself as the subject in the field, adopting the drifting gait to boogie through the snow. Understanding what the wolverine and lynx do, and how they do it, might lead to learning something new in much the same way that Adolph Murie learned about wolves by living among them in Mt. McKinley (now Denali) National Park.
The excitement of wildlife observations connects us all in a place like Jackson Hole. Thanks to Bert Raynes, Jason Wilmot and so many others who have willingly shared their stories, we feel the joy of a wild place, and respond to the obligation we share to keep our wild family tree as sturdy and enduring as it has always been, protecting the wildlife that enliven us and the home we all share.
Two prolific wildlife biologists, Jason Wilmot and Susan Patla.
Photo: Mark Gocke.
by jhwildlife | Feb 29, 2016 | Blog
Photo by Nature Mapper Kathy McCurdy on Moose Day
Eighth Annual Moose Day Survey Yields Data Similar to 2015
The eighth annual Moose Day Jackson Hole survey was conducted on Saturday, February 27, 2016 from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. 73 volunteers from trained Nature Mapping Citizen Scientists, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Bridger-Teton National Forest personnel took part spending an estimated 223 hours of volunteer time. 99 individual moose were observed in 58 individual search areas.
“Moose Day is such a fun event, bringing people together around the joy of searching for wildlife,” said Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation Executive Director Jon Mobeck. “It also serves a scientific purpose. The observation data captured on or near participating private ranch lands and residential neighborhoods supplements population surveys conducted by Wyoming Game and Fish, giving us well-rounded information in order to protect moose in the valley.”
During last year’s survey 97 individual moose were observed by 71 volunteers in 61 individual search areas. Moose numbers via this survey remain flat over the past three years.
“Moose Day is truly a community-wide effort: with 73 volunteers searching for moose by ski, foot, car, and snowmobile on a Saturday morning. We have a good time looking, enjoy swapping moose stories, and above all know we are doing something for the moose we all care about. I thank the volunteers and the landowners who are all part of this Citizen Science inventory,” said Frances Clark, coordinator of Moose Day and volunteer coordinator of Nature Mapping Jackson Hole.
by jhwildlife | Feb 16, 2016 | Blog
Counted on Moose Day 2015 by Nature Mapper Gigi Halloran
The eighth annual Moose Day Jackson Hole survey will be conducted on Saturday, February 27, 2016 from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Volunteers from trained Nature Mapping Citizen Scientists, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Bridger-Teton National Forest personnel will take part.
Every year since 2009 on a Saturday morning in late February, Jackson Hole Nature Mappers partner with Wyoming Game and Fish to survey moose in Teton County. Teams of two or more are assigned to drive, ski or snowshoe a set territory and Nature Map moose gender, age, location and the time of spotting.
Nature Mappers contribute important sightings in developed and rural areas not surveyed by professional game biologists who concentrate on public lands. Anyone who is not a certified Nature Mapper needs to go with someone who is. A training program about moose ecology and identification is also scheduled on February 24, 2016, but it is specifically for Moose Day, not a Nature Mapping certification.
Photo: Gigi Halloran
by jhwildlife | Jan 27, 2016 | Blog
Thanks to the feedback from Nature Mappers over this past year, we have just released the latest version of our new data entry form which enables you to:
- Select species more quickly
- Enter different ages, genders, activities, etc. under this same entry
- Toggle to a map and click an arrow to set location or enter the UTMs manually
- Review your entry and make corrections before you press “send”
This new form is accessed through both the “New Entry Form” green button located at bottom of the Nature Mapping website or mobile device.
To get the feel of the new form, you can find a training version in the “What’s New” section of the main page of the Nature Mapping website. The training version is equipped with tutorial information and allows you to enter observations that will not be submitted to the official Nature Mapping database as you practice.
We hope you find this new form easy. We’ve done our best to work through the inevitable glitches. However, if there’s something you think is not working right or you have additional feedback, please let us know by emailing paul@jhwildlife.org.
by jhwildlife | Dec 7, 2015 | Blog
The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (JHWF) is pleased to announce that Jon Mobeck – a conservation leader and decade-long resident of Jackson – will join JHWF as its executive director in January. He will officially begin work with JHWF on January 4, 2016.
Mobeck contributed to the local conservation community as a staff member of The Murie Center from 2009-2014, serving as executive director from 2012-2014. He has lived in Jackson for 10 of the last 15 years. He returns to Jackson this January after spending the past year in Boulder, Colorado with the WILD Foundation, an organization dedicated to connecting people, wilderness and wildlife globally.
“We are elated to welcome Jon as executive director to lead JHWF. Jon brings a wealth of conservation experience and enthusiasm that will benefit JHWF, its volunteers, and the wildlife of Jackson Hole,” Alyson Courtemanch, President of the Board of Directors, said. “Returning to Jackson to contribute to such an effective wildlife organization is a gift,” Mobeck said. “I’m grateful and honored to take on this role, and I’m already impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of the board and volunteers.”
Cory Hatch stepped down as JHWF’s executive director in late November to resume his science writing career. “I’m immensely proud to have served as executive director of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation,” Hatch said. “Thanks to hundreds of dedicated volunteers, JHWF is incredibly effective at delivering on-the-ground benefits for wildlife in Jackson Hole. It’s gratifying to know that Jon will take the helm. Jackson Hole’s wildlife are in good hands.”
Mobeck will lead the four main programs of JHWF: Wildlife-Friendlier Fencing, Bear Wise, Nature Mapping, and Give Wildlife a Brake. Mobeck will also usher in a new project in summer 2016, building wildlife ramps on the Teton County levee system to help animals cross the miles of rocks and boulders along the Snake River.
Mobeck first got involved in community nonprofit work with the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce as Membership and Communications Director from 2001-2003.
