Track & Sign Specialist Evaluation: May 28-29

This Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-29, 2022, the Minnesota Wildlife Tracking Project is hosting our very first Track & Sign Specialist Evaluation. Specialist Evaluations are designed with experienced trackers in mind. Questions focus on the tracks and sign of small or rare species, partial footprints, and indistinct sign that may require considerable experience to identify. The evaluation is led by two instructors, offering participants more evaluator contact and exposure to an even greater depth of knowledge and perspectives. For the experienced tracker, there is simply no better opportunity to move your skills forward than a Specialist Evaluation. The evaluation will be led by Nate Harvey and Casey McFarland.

The evaluation will take place in and around Ft. Snelling State Park--an urban state park in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Area with a remarkable diversity and density of wildlife.

Nate Harvey is a Senior Tracker with CyberTracker Conservation and conducts evaluations in both Trailing and Track & Sign Identification. He led the first two Track & Sign evaluations hosted in Minnesota and got our group connected with CyberTracker North America. Nate also teaches Trailing in workshops near his home in southern Vermont and around the country, and offers a wealth of online resources on his website www.trackerstrail.com.

Casey McFarland is one of the most senior CyberTracker Evaluators in the US and currently sits as President of CyberTracker North America. He has run over 130 Evaluations in 8 countries and 14 US states and was integral to the establishment CyberTracker Europe. Casey is co-author of Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests (Houghton Mifflin summer 2021) and Bird Feathers: A Guide to North American Species (Stackpole 2010), and a contributing author to Mammal Tracks and Sign: A Guide to North American Species (2nd Ed).

Tuition for the evaluation is $375. Partial scholarships are available for trackers who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing and spreading the profession of wildlife tracking. To register, please contact us to arrange payment.

We may be able to arrange home-stays for out-of-town guests with local club members.