Sky Island Alliance leverages a small but dedicated staff with a tiny budget to marshal a large network of grassroots volunteers who influence a wide range of public policy decisions. For example, their Wildlife Linkages program trains citizen scientists to track keystone mammalian predators in the Southwest. The GPS data are used to assemble up-to-date maps of existing wildlife linkage corridors and influence decisions ranging from urban planning of new subdivisions to the construction of wildlife access tunnels under interstate highways.
The training took place at the El Aribabi wildlife ranch in Sonora, Mexico. The instructors were professional scientists and wildlife trackers specializing in wolves, mountain lion, jaguar, coyote, and bobcat, and coati. This is a great program and more people should take advantage of this opportunity to "get to know the neighbors"; it should be expanded so that everyone has the opportunity to feel at home in the wilderness. It should be a key component of the Leave No Child Inside movement. For more information about citizen science wildlife tracking programs
see keepingtrack.org.
See: Winter Wildlife Tracking
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