Ecosystem Awareness: Wildlife Tracking & Foraging with Northwest Natura

Join naturalist & level 3 certified tracker, Jazmen Yoder, for an immersive day of exploration focused on wildlife track and sign and foraging skills. This course is designed for nature enthusiasts, aspiring naturalists, and anyone curious about the “big picture” of our local ecosystems. This will be a fun course with tons of educational content!

What to Expect-

Introduction to Tracking Techniques:
-Learn the fundamentals of tracking including how to read animal signs, tracks, and behaviors. We’ll cover essentials for successful tracking in various terrains.

This course is designed for beginners but will be tailored to all individuals’ experience levels throughout our discussions.

-Identifying local species:

Discover the diverse wildlife of the PNW, including mammals and birds (and amphibians if we’re lucky!). Through field observations and discussions, you’ll gain insight into their habitats and behaviors.

-Connecting with the ecosystem:

Observe plant-wildlife and fungi-wildlife relationships and see the ecosystem at work. From minute details we can learn what is happening in the bigger picture.

Discussions will include points on habitat preservation and native plant conservation.

-Identifying Edible and Toxic Species

On this field trip you will also learn who the plants are through identification, ecological associations, status, and ethnobotany (knowledge of plants and how humans interact with them).

In the summer we can expect to find some fruits, edible flowers, and aromatic herbs. The majority of the encouraged foraging will be geared towards nonnative species with applications as fiber, food, medicine, or something unique. You’ll learn something new about each plant we ID whether it’s nonnative or native to this region.

Toxic plants will be discussed during edible/medicinal plant ID sessions and identified if we come across any.

More information is available on the event website.

*Please register via the event website. Space is limited.