Keeping Track

By Cassie J. Moore

Cascadia Wild, a nonprofit group in Portland, Ore., calls its best-known program the Wolverine Tracking Project. But in its six years of operation, the group has never actually encountered wolverine tracks, says Kyle Strauss, a volunteer with the charity.

Mr. Strauss says Cascadia Wild chose the program’s name to highlight the scarcity of wolverines. Though the animals are not considered endangered or threatened by the U.S. government, they are rare. The charity’s weekend tracking trips, which Mr. Strauss leads, more often turn up signs of coyotes, bobcats, and foxes.

“We wanted to bring attention to the fact that we’re losing animal species on the mountain,” he says.

The tracking trips, held from December to March, not only provide recreation for the hikers, who pay $30 apiece to participate in the two-day event, but also benefit the Mt. Hood National Forest. Mr. Strauss says that in a typical season, his group provides tracking data collected over more than 200 hours to the forest service so it can monitor wildlife in the area. The forest service provides Cascadia Wild with devices volunteers can use to collect animal hair, in addition to recording their observations when they see signs of life.

Cascadia Wild, which expects its 2005 revenue to be $145,000, received about $50,000 from foundations last year. It also raises money from special events, including its annual Track-A-Thon, a nine-day fund-raising event to be held later this month, and from the fees it charges to people who go on tracking weekends.

Here, Mr. Strauss examines coyote tracks with Dylan Schertz and his father, Paul Schertz.