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2010 Volunteer Opportunities

Summer Wildlife Research Opportunities
July 26—30 or August 16—20, 2010

Want to get some hands-on experience as a wildlife researcher? Join Northwest Connections’ Wildlands Volunteer Corps (WVC) in the Swan Valley for the best week of your summer. You will be part of a crew of 8 other volunteers, all working in small groups with Northwest Connections field staff each day. During both weeks, you will work 2 or 3 days on each of the following field projects:

Bear DNA Research
NorthwestConnections_grizzlybear_ZoopraxProductions_DerekReich Hike to remote locations to collect bear hair for genetic analysis. From a few hair follicles left behind by bears scratching against trees, a lot of information can be found: species, individual identity, gender, and possibly how the individual is related to other bears. NwC staff will teach you the techniques for identifying and collecting bear hair as well as how to travel safely in bear country. You'll learn to identify bear tracks and other bear sign as well as investigating the natural history of bear habitat.

Fish Surveys
NorthwestConnections_bulltrout_KarenNichols Accompany NwC staff as they survey local streams for fish. NwC is gathering data about fish population distribution and abundance to support recovery of declining native fish populations. Non-native fish can be a significant threat to our native fisheries. You will help record data about each fish collected and help return each fish safely to the water. NwC staff will teach you how to identify different species of fish, as well as how to gather information about each individual. You will get to explore streams and their riparian areas and learn where fish hang out!

Since 1999, WVC crew members have contributed nearly 500 days in the field on behalf of public lands and natural resources in western Montana. Over the past decade, WVC crews have worked on a wide array of field projects, including the following:

• Surveying over 300 miles of USFS roads for fish passage barriers and erosion problems

• Monitoring 50 miles of trail in the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area and Rock Creek drainage for noxious weed infestations

• Sampling 90 different ponds in the Swan Valley for amphibians and reptiles of special concern to biologists

• Monitoring four ponds intensively to gather data on deformity rates in spotted frog populations

• Searching the Blackfoot-Clearwater Game Range for ungulate carcasses to establish causes of mortality for a long-term Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks study

• Surveying 18 miles of transects on snowshoes for the presence of furbearers including marten, fisher, wolverine and lynx in the Swan Valley

• Establishing permanently monumented cross-sections, and gathering stability data, on 3 different Swan River tributaries for long-term erosion monitoring

• Hiking 35 miles of Swan Valley roads and trails to locate grizzly bear tracks for a long-term study of habitat use and bear abundance

• Planting 9000 seedlings along a Blackfoot River tributary for a riparian restoration initiative

• Planting 2000 whitebark pine seedlings in the Jewel Basin area in cooperation with a USFS initiative to restore the whitebark pine to its native subalpine habitat

Join us this summer!

click here for an application form (in Word format)
or contact Andrea Stephens
Northwest Connections
Box 1309, Swan Valley, MT 59826
(406) 544-1319
andrea@northwestconnections.org

Photo credits:
grizzly bear - Derek Reich, Zooprax Productions; bull trout - Karen Nichols

Resident Trackers
Local residents can join a team of volunteers who document their animal track sightings while out working or recreating. This data is then mapped by NwC staff and provided to the Forest Service and other land management agencies. These volunteers are required to take one of our animal tracking clinics.

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