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Citizen Science Wildlife Monitoring Program Background Information SREP's research over the past years has indicated that a critical data gap exists in assessing the effectiveness of existing and planned wildlife crossings in the state of Colorado. Specifically, very little data exists on wildlife movement and activity before and after wildlife crossings are put in place. In order to construct the most effective wildlife crossings possible, we need data on their effectiveness so future crossings can be modified and enhanced.
To address this need, we developied a Citizen Science Wildlife Monitoring program in 2006 with our partners the Denver Zoo and the Gore Range Natural Science School. Our long-term goal is to expand this program statewide in high priority linkages throughout Colorado. In 2006, we initiated this project in Eagle County in conjunction with our efforts to construct a wildlife bridge over I-70 west of Vail Pass. For more information on the wildlife bridge, click here. Wildlife monitoring before and after construction of the wildlife bridge will gather baseline data on wildlife movement along West Vail Pass to determine the location of the structure and study its long-term impact and effectiveness. Pre- and post-construction data on wildlife overpasses does not exist in the U.S., so collecting this information will be of nationwide significance. Our Citizen Science Wildlife Monitoring program provides critical data and engages citizens at the local level, fostering knowledge and interest. Methodology This ambitious effort would not be possible without the instrumental help of our partners: The Denver Zoo, through its Conservation Specialist, Amy Masching, is providing in-kind staffing to assist coordination of the project and the Gore Range Natural Science School is helping us to recruit and train volunteers by coordinating and hosting workshops for volunteers in the summer and winter. We are also currently coordinating efforts with the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Division of Wildlife to utilize their expertise, volunteers, and data. Volunteers will train with SREP staff as well as biologists from Colorado State University. We are basing our methodology on a similar monitoring program with many thanks to the Sky Islands Alliance, a non-profit organization based in Arizona. The main difference between our methodologies is the addition of motion-triggered cameras to the Colorado program.
The Citizen Science program "captures" wildlife on film providing essential presence/absence and activity rates for a variety of species. Volunteers download images from motion-triggered cameras placed along these transects. SREP's ultimate goal is to engage resource agencies and education institutions in a greater monitoring effort that will include obtaining fine-scale movement data on target species and gathering genetic data in order to better understand individual animal movement, or lack thereof, across the highway. Thanks to the work of a maters student from the University of Montana - Missoula, Paige Bonaker, we are also comparing the efficacy of different monitoring techniques. Because of the high expense and the importance of monitoring efforts, there is a need for effective monitoring methods for highway mitigation projects. The National Cooperative Highway Research Project (NCHRP 2002) found a need among many state transportation departments for the development of "standard analytic techniques for assessing wildlife ecology and transportation." Specifically, there is a need for a standardized methodology to assess the "relationship of highways to needed landscape linkages for wildlife and the effectiveness of…terrestrial structures for wildlife over long periods of time." For her Master's thesis, Paige is ascertaining the utility of various field techniques to monitor wildlife in the vicinity of I-70 at Vail Pass. The field methods she is using are track and scat transect surveys, hair snares, and camera stations, for a total of four techniques. The primary goal of her study is to collect sufficient data to analyze the efficacy of each technique to monitor wildlife presence in the area of I-70 and to compare each method to the others. This study will discern the most effective monitoring methods for future wildlife crossing projects.
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