Additional Training
A Naturalist’s World
An ecologically oriented company dedicated to providing educational programs, books, slide shows and videos reflecting the natural history of North America. In addition to tracking, its programs cover bears, wolves,winter ecology, northern lights, alpine ecology and African ecosystems.
Alderleaf Wilderness College
Offers innovative wilderness, tracking, and nature programs in the Pacific Northwest. Led by experienced faculty, our courses provide professional training in a variety of outdoor field skills.
ConserveWildlife.org
A site is sponsored by the Northeast Furbearers Resources Technical Committee encompassing 13 northeastern states and five eastern Canadian provinces. Its goal is to help people understand the importance of trapping and furbearer management.
The International Society of Professional Trackers
A worldwide organization for the purpose of connecting all kinds of trackers. The benefits of connecting will be to share knowledge and interest in tracking and to further the use of tracking for everything from law enforcement and Search and Rescue to animal tracking for both serious trackers and those who are just interested.
Play in the Wild!
Offers a full-immersion education in the principles and practices of nonviolence – seeing beyond differences, respecting all living things, and being of service. These practices include mindfulness, emotional intelligence, connection across languages and cultures, and wilderness skills. Play in the Wild! has programs for all ages, including day camps for kids and overnight quests for teens.
Shikari Tracking Guild
Provides mentoring resources for students on a serious path to become trackers in service to their communities. The resources provided by the Shikari Tracking Guild include Internships, Apprenticeships, Workshops, independent studies options (based on the Kamana Naturalist Training Program and the Shikari Tracker Training Program) and personal advising on a course of study to help developing trackers prepare for a life of professional service.
Unity College
A small, private college in Unity, Maine, that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education that emphasizes the environment and natural resources. Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and responsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community.
Vermont Geographic Information System
A nonprofit public corporation charged with the development and implementation of a comprehensive Vermont Geographic Information strategy. Obtain free public GIS data, network with the Vermont GIS community, become aware of GIS activities in Vermont, obtain technical information on GIS.
Wilderness Awareness School
Offers naturalist training, expeditions, products and more. It strives to foster people's understanding of their native environment through enhancing positive connections with nature, community, family and self.
Tools, Tales & Tutorials
Animal Trackers of New England
A group of loosely connected nature lovers who share observations and discoveries about the fauna and flora of the northeastern US. The focus is on mammal tracks and sign, but you'll also find postings birds, insects, plants and more. A great place to share photos and stories, compare notes and trade suggestions.
Animal Tracking Subreddit
Subscribe to this far-flung, online community of people interested in trading tracking tips and other information.
GIS.com
Information and advice on all aspects of geographic information systems (GIS). GIS.com is a portal to GIS information on the Web and was created by ESRI, a GIS software developer. The site is intended to educate anyone interested in geographic technology on the value that technology brings to their day-to-day activities. The site also provides GIS users with resources to help them in their work.
Maptech
Publisher of land navigation software with GPS interface, USGS electronic topographic maps, and aeronautical sectionals. Web interface enables you to search for, view and print free maps.
Vermont Atlas of Life
A project to create an online inventory of every living thing in the state. Collects sightings from citizen scientists and professional biologists on everything from moose to microorganisms. Maps, photos, social networking and more.
Vermont Geographic Information System
A nonprofit public corporation charged with the development and implementation of a comprehensive Vermont Geographic Information strategy. Obtain free public GIS data, network with the Vermont GIS community, become aware of GIS activities in Vermont, obtain technical information on GIS.
Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas
Online, constantly updated information about the natural history, distribution and conservation needs of Vermont's reptiles and amphibians. The project collects and disseminates data to help inform decisions regarding the state status, state rank and conservation of these important animals.
Conservation Organizations
Appalachian Corridor
Working to protect the natural areas of the Appalachians, paticularly in southern Quebec and by focusing on a transborder conservation strategy in conjunction with private landowners and numerous partners.
Bearcamp Trackers
Dedicated to practicing a formal mode of citizen science directed toward monitoring the health of wildlife habitat in and around the Bearcamp River watershed of central New Hampshire. The group aims to promote the understanding and conservation of wildlife habitat through long-term monitoring and education. It shares its long-term monitoring data with local conservation groups working to protect wildlife connectivity. It also helps landowners and managers by providing findings that will help develop a management plan consistent with the protection and improvement of wildlife habitat.
Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)
Works in the Berkshire Mountains and beyond to inform residents about the environment and their role in protecting it while also helping people come together to protect important natural resources.
Chittenden County (Vt.) Science to Action Project
A collaborative effort among four neighboring Vermont towns -- Bolton, Huntington, Jericho and Richmond -- to inventory wildlife habitat, wetlands, uplands, natural communities and working lands across the area. The data is being used to inform model by-laws and non-regulatory tools to improve protection of critical places, while engaging citizens in understanding and conserving the area's rich and diverse natural resources.
Cold Hollow to Canada
A partnership of community members working together toward the common goal of land stewardship and wildlife habitat conservation through education and outreachin seven towns on the western side of Vermont's Green Mountains: Bakersfield, Belvidere, Enosburgh, Fletcher, Montgomery, Richford and Waterville.
The Cougar Fund
Protects cougars and other carnivores throughout the Americas by educating children and adults on their value as well as by funding and promoting the use of sound science, and monitoring state policies to assure lasting places for these creatures.
Cougar Rewilding Foundation
Promotes the recovery of cougar breeding populations through natural recolonization and mandated restorations to the central, southeastern and eastern United States, advocating responsible management in habitat where cougars are recovering. It also works for the full legal protection of all cougars living wild east of the Rockies, regardless of origin, in addition to conducting investigations with wildlife agencies to document cougar presence along their expanding range into eastern habitat. Formerly the Eastern Cougar Foundation.
Deerfield River Watershed Association
A non-profit organization with the mission to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural resources of the Deerfield River watershed in southeastern VT and northwestern MA. This site is designed to meet the informational needs of both resident and non-resident private landowners in the area.
Defenders of Wildlife
Defenders’ staff of wildlife professionals is aided by over 400,000 members and supporters who share the belief that humans have a responsibility to protect other living creatures and their habitats. Their financial help and active involvement ensures that Defenders will continue to be one of America's most effective champions for wildlife.
Friends of the Winooski River
A volunteer group dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Vermont's Winooski River, its tributaries and watershed.
Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots
The Roots & Shoots program is about making positive change happen—for people, for animals and for the environment. With tens of thousands of young people in more than 120 countries, the Roots & Shoots network connects youth of all ages who share a desire to create a better world. Young people identify problems in their communities and take action to make a difference across the globe.
Mountain Lion Foundation
Dedicated to the belief that "America's lion" is in peril, despite being an apex species upon which whole ecosystems depend. It works to fill the need for more awareness and understanding of the biology, behavior and ecology of mountain lions so governments can base decisions upon truthful science, valid data and the highest common good.
National Wildlife Federation
Works to educate, inspire and assist individuals and organizations of diverse cultures to conserve wildlife and other natural resources and to protect the Earth's environment in order to achieve a peaceful, equitable and sustainable future. Its main goal is to raise awareness and involve people of all ages in their fight to conserve and protect the environment.
New England Discovery
An organization that is increasing awareness and appreciation of wildlife and the natural world by helping people become more familiar with the wild animals living around us and how they interact with and depend upon their environments.
North American Bear Center
A leader in creating greater understanding and appreciation of black bears, their role in the ecosystem and their relationship to humans. This will be accomplished through a facility that promotes and provides educational facilities, exhibits, multi-media presentations, and when prudent, live animals, particularly those needing clinical rehabilitation.
Northeast Wilderness Trust
Conserves forever-wild landscapes for nature and people using highly effective land conservation tools. Often works with conservation partners including other land trusts. The Trust’s geographic purview includes ME, NH, VT, VT, MA and CT.
Northern Woodlands
A non-profit dedicated to encouraging a strong culture of forest stewardship in the Northeast by increasing understanding of and appreciation for the natural wonders, economic productivity and ecological integrity of the region's forests. You can also subscribe to Northern Woodlands magazine, which is published four times a year. Each issue contains a "Tracking Tips" article authored by Keeping Track's Sue Morse.
NorthWoods Stewardship Center
An educational, research and conservation service organization serving the communities of northern Vermont and New Hampshire since 1989. Offers a combination of programs that seeks to enhance understanding and appreciation of the role of the natural world, and to take direct and positive action in the restoration and conservation of the region’s natural resources.
The Nature Conservancy
Preserves plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
Staying Connected in the Northern Appalachians
Helping to safeguard wide‐ranging and forest‐dwelling wildlife such as bear, moose, lynx, marten and bobcat from the impacts of habitat fragmentation and climate change. Emphasizes the need to maintain and restore landscape connections across the Northern Appalachians region via six key linkages across four states of the Northern Appalachian Ecoregion (Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont).
Two Countries One Forest
A major Canadian-U.S. collaborative of conservation organizations, researchers, foundations and conservation-minded individuals, focused on the protection, conservation and restoration of forests and natural heritage from New York to Nova Scotia, across the Northern Appalachian/Acadian ecoregion.
Vermont Institute of Natural Science
Protects Vermont's heritage through education and research designed to engage individuals and communities in the active care of their environment.
Vermont Smart Growth Collaborative
A group of ten highly respected organizations working together to promote growth and development in downtowns and village centers while protecting Vermont's open landscape.
Wild Farm Alliance
Promotes agriculture that helps to protect and restore wild Nature.
Wildlands Network
Working to restore, protect and connect North America's best wild places out of the belief that people need nature, and nature needs space to survive.
Wildlife Conservation Society Canada
Works to save wildlife and wildlands by improving understanding of critical problems that threaten key species and large wild ecosystems throughout Canada.
Land Trusts
Land trusts help protect wildlife by helping landowners ensure that their property remains in a natural state for generations to come. The United States now has more than 1,700 land trusts encompassing over 100,000 volunteers and five million members. The total amount of land conserved by land trusts now amounts to some 37 million acres, much of it important wildlife habitat. That's an area approximately the size of all the New England States combined.
Keeping Track® works with land trusts on many levels. Local wildlife monitoring teams trained by Keeping Track help land trusts find the projects that will do wildlife the most good. Our community and youth education programs broaden support for conservation and habitat preservation, while our technical workshops provide professionals with the knowledge and skills to assess and improve the status of wildlife, including on conserved parcels.
If you live in a community without a land trust we urge you to start one. You can find invaluable help at the Land Trust Alliance and The Trust for Public Land. Among the many land trusts we've worked with (or are just in awe of) are:
Chateauguay No Town (CNT) Conservation Project
Jericho/Underhill (Vt.) Land Trust
Newfound Lake Region Association
Ruiter Valley (Quebec) Land Trust
Governmental Agencies
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Responsible for helping to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment — air, water, and land-upon which life depends.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The U.S. Government's only agency whose primary responsibility is fish, wildlife and plant conservation.
U.S. Forest Service
The mission is to achieve quality forest and land management under sustainable, multiple-use management to meet the diverse needs of the people.
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife
The mission of the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife is the conservation of fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the people of Vermont.