Wildland/ Wildlife Preservation: The Pacific Northwest Project
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Join us this fall as we engage in a unique, firsthand examination of the Pacific Northwest’s diverse ecosystems and the research techniques used to study and address the environmental challenges they face. Our team will spend six weeks hiking through the remote backcountry of breath-taking national parks and federal lands exploring the complex and interconnected ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. Together with academic organizations and state and federal agencies, we will conduct research and participate in ongoing field projects that will help answer questions and address current concerns in the realm of terrestrial wildlife and marine ecology.
One of the primary objectives of this project is to provide team members with the skills, resources and professional network that will help them better understand current environmental efforts. We will devote a considerable amount of time building a strong repertoire of wildlife and marine research field techniques and explore job opportunities and career options. We immerse ourselves in the Pacific Northwest at a time when the conflict between ecosystem health, energy needs, economic development and resource use is heightened and more pertinent than any other time in our history. By discussing and exploring current issues surrounding sustainable growth and conservation in the Pacific Northwest, we will gain a better understanding of the vital role each of us can play in shaping the future of America’s valuable resources and ecosystems.
THE PROJECT
Our project will begin with an orientation of the region, the land and its ecosystems as we travel through the Columbia River Gorge, a dynamic and crucial ecological component of the Pacific Northwest. After traveling up the Columbia, we will explore the rugged and arid shrub-steppe ecosystem around Newberry Crater and Hell’s Canyon. These areas vividly demonstrate the geologic affect that volcanoes have 
had in the region over time and how rivers erode and shape the area. As we leave the canyon lands we’ll move to the higher elevation of the Cascade Mountains. Here we’ll immerse ourselves in the boreal forest and alpine ecosystems as we travel to the wild and largely unexplored North Cascades National Park, an area outstanding biodiversity, old growth forests and largely untouched wilderness.
A special feature of the Pacific Northwest Project is the hands-on experience we will gain through an array of monitoring and research techniques. Along with discussions and talks with regional scientists, we will take part in research projects that focus on areas such as wildlife corridors, habitat connectivity and wildlife monitoring and raptor migration. As part of a U.S. Forest Service carnivore genetic study, we will assist biologists in collecting DNA samples from a variety of mammals (including black bear, bobcat, American marten) through the use of hair-snares, scat detection dogs and remote cameras. We’ll talk with researchers and scientists from Hawkwatch International and the US Forest Service at a raptor observation and banding station and learn about the work being done to track and record western raptor migration. 
For our next destination we will travel to the majestic Olympic National Park. Here the steep topography and high moisture result in the most productive ecosystem on Earth, the temperate rainforest. We’ll spend a week backpacking through an area that is home to some of the tallest trees in the world, several endangered species and an overwhelming diversity of mushrooms, mosses and lichens. While hiking up rainforest valleys to incredible alpine meadows and mountain glaciers, we will assist biologists from a variety of agencies with the monitoring of a newly reintroduced Pacific Northwest icon, the fisher. 
The last section of the project will focus on coastal and marine ecology. We will begin by examining the interface between marine and terrestrial systems by following fall salmon runs from their spawning locations up stream to their point of origin at sea. Once along the coast, we will learn about the zonation, diversity and ecological roles of pelagic, intertidal and subtidal communities. With this foundation, we will then travel to the San Juan Islands, where we’ll become well acquainted with common marine species, learn a variety of marine ecology field techniques and hear from resident ecologists about current research questions relating to the marine environment. We will also talk with fisheries biologists and marine scientists at state and federal agencies to learn more about important issues pertaining to fisheries science and opportunities in fisheries research, monitoring and conservation.
By the end of the project all of us will have experienced a wealth of species and ecosystem diversity, developed the ability to conduct ecological field studies, and grown through the experience both intellectually and personally. In-country fee: $1400.
Read the full course description:
PROGRAM LEADERS
ADAM DILLON is an ecologist who has worked throughout North and Central America. His main focus is wildlife ecology and conservation with an emphasis on mammalian carnivores.