Become a Nature Mapper!

We host Nature Mapping trainings every other month. Email hilary@jhwildlife.org to sign up for the next training!

Sign up for a Snake River Float

Snake River Float Trips are back in 2021! Register for a trip using our Sign Up Genius form by clicking on the orange button below.

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Trail Camera Images Benefit Local Wildlife

Have you heard about our Neighbors to Nature Program? This study of wildlife and trail use in the Cache Creek area aims to better understand how recreation impacts the presence and habits of local fauna.

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About Nature Mapping Jackson Hole

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole is a group of volunteer citizens working collectively to create a long-term dataset containing wildlife observations. When everyone contributes a small amount of data, the end result is enormous. Nature Mapping Jackson Hole strives to fill wildlife observation and distribution needs not already covered by state and federal agencies or local research organizations.

Goals of Nature Mapping Jackson Hole

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole is a long-term, citizen science research project with the goals of:

Keeping common species common (studying all species not just high-profile species or species of concern).
Increasing citizen’s knowledge of and appreciation for wildlife in Teton County, WY.
Engaging citizens in long-term wildlife data collection.
Informing management decisions that favor wildlife sustainability.
Contribute data to the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s Wildlife Observation System (WOS) to augment state data.

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole Database

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole strives to fill wildlife observation and distribution needs not already covered by state and federal agencies or local research organizations. Creating a long-term dataset on all species, collecting data on private and public lands, and providing able bodies to work collaboratively with other research organizations on projects that lack resources, are niches Nature Mapping is striving to fill in Jackson Hole’s wildlife-rich community.

A History Thanks to Meg and Bert Raynes  

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole was begun in 2009 by a group of dedicated volunteers and local biologists under the Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund. In 2011, a cooperative relationship between the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation and the Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund began in order to build on the initial success of the Nature Mapping Jackson Hole program.

Please be aware of Nature Mapping Data Collection Guidelines Related to Private Property

JHWF’s Nature Mapping Jackson Hole casual observations of elk from December 2015 to December 2020. Our Nature Mapping projects included are Backyard, Moose Day, Snake River Float Trips, and Casual Observations.

It’s fun to open somebody’s eyes the way mine were opened. You can sit there and see them get the spark and think, there, I’ve ruined another life. They’re gonna be bird watchers. Satisfying.

Bert Raynes

Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund

To sign up for a certification training, please email kate@jhwildlife.org!

Total Observations

Trained Nature Mappers

Moose Observed on 2020 Moose Day

2020 Moose Day Volunteers

Nature Mapping Jackson Hole Programs

Featured below are three of our most popular Nature Mapping programs. Additional Nature Mapping programs of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation include Moose Day, Mountain Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring, Neighbors to Nature: a Cache Creek Study and our Clark’s Nutcracker Project.

Nature Mapping Snake River Floats

The Snake River Float Project is designed to gain a better idea of what species of mammals, birds and amphibians use the section of river between Wilson Bridge and South Park, a section flowing mostly through private land where wildlife professionals do not conduct a systematic census. Click here to learn more or here to sign up for a float!

Casual Observations and Project Backyard

The most common ways to collect data, Casual observations and Project Backyard imply no set routine, just basic wildlife watching. Nature Mappers participating in these programs are often the first to document the existence of a species or arrival and departure dates of migrants.

Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Project

Using the Institute for Bird Populations’ Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) protocol, banders have collected data including age, sex, breeding status and body condition from over 10,000 songbirds at this and four other sites. Click here to learn more.

“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.” – Aldo Leopold

Data Request Process – How it Works

Requester submits a data request using the info on this form. Please fill out the information found on the form as completely as possible and explicitly tell us why you are requesting Nature Mapping data.
Nature Mapping Advisory Committee reviews the data request at their monthly meeting.
If the request is approved, the requester will sign a data release agreement with Nature Mapping/JHWF.
Data will be delivered electronically as either a shapefile or Microsoft Excel document.
Requester’s end products will be delivered to Nature Mapping/ JHWF per the timeline outlined in the data request form.
The intent is for wildlife to benefit from this cooperative agreement.

Data may be provided to individuals or organizations on a demonstrated need basis for single use purposes related to the appropriate conservation and management of wildlife in Teton County, Wyoming. Data requests submitted by area agencies, research organizations and land management organizations which may positively influence wildlife management decisions are encouraged.

At no time should Nature Mapping data (partial or in total) be redistributed by the recipient to third parties whether for a fee or free of charge. Data recipient should direct all other parties to request data directly from Nature Mapping Jackson Hole/Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation. Data may not be provided to any entity for the creation of independent datasets.