Cascadia Wild has 12 wildlife cameras on the Mt Hood National Forest to collect information on rare carnivores (read more about the Wolverine Tracking Project here). Volunteers helping with the cameras will be part of a group of 5-8 people that is responsible for a camera for either the summer or winter season. Cameras need to be visited every 3-4 weeks and each group is responsible for organizing who goes when. Plan for around 3 trips per season.

During your visit, you will need to change out the batteries and memory card, refresh the bait, and collect any hair samples. Before heading out, you will also need to pick up equipment from the office, and return it after your trip. Checking a camera is usually a full day trip. Some cameras are close to the road, others are a substantial hike or snowshoe in. You will be assigned to groups based on how far you wish to hike.

After you bring back the pictures, they will be shared on flickr so that you can see what you camera picked up.

Time commitment
Summer season runs from June to October, with an orientation session in May. Winter season runs from November to April. with an orientation session in October.

Qualifications

• Must be reliable and have time to visit the camera 3-4 times during the season
• Must have transportation to Mt Hood. During the winter, highway regulations require 2-wheel drive vehicles to carry tire chains.
• Must be comfortable hiking off-trail and, for the winter season, must be comfortable snowshoeing
• Must be able to carry up to 10 lbs of camera gear and bait to the survey location
• Must be able to use a GPS to navigate (we can train)

Training

Orientation sessions (choose one):
Sunday, May 19, 2:30-4:00pm
Tuesday, May 28, 6:00-7:30pm

At the orientation session you will learn more about the project, what is expected of you as a volunteer, and why citizen science is so important in efforts to advocate for imperiled wildlife.

At the orientation session, if you wish to commit to being a volunteer, you will be asked to sign up for two additional training sessions, one in the field and one in the office.  Details on these are below. 

Location: Leaven Community Center, 5431 NE 20th Ave, located on the corner of NE Killingsworth and 20th.

Field trainings:
The field training is where you will see the nuts and bolts of how to check a camera.  During these trainings, we will also be setting the cameras up in the locations they will be for the season.

Field training dates are:
June 1: Government Camp – a flat 2 mile round trip hike
June 2: Badger Creek – a 2 mile round trip hike
June 8: Glade – a steep mile and a half hike (one way) out of Government Camp
June 9: Yellowjacket – a mile and a half round trip hike along a winter ski trail
June 16: Timberline – a 3 mile round trip hike along the Timberline Trail
June 22: Warm Springs River – a bushwack off-trail of about a half mile
June 23: Timberline – a 2 mile round trip hike along the Timberline Trail and about a quarter mile of bushwacking
June 30: Lemiti Creek – a short bushwack off the road

Sign ups for the field trainings will occur during the orientation sessions.

Office training:
This will show you how to access the gear you need to service the camera.  Sign ups for the office trainings will also happen during the orientation sessions.

Office training dates are:
Wednesday, June 5, 6:00-6:30pm
Tuesday, June 11, 6:00-6:30pm
Thursday, June 13, 6:00-6:30pm
Thursday, June 20, 7:00-7:30pm

GPS training:
For those of you new to using a GPS, an optional training will be available.  These will take place in Alberta Park, and will happen the same days as the office training:
Wednesday, June 5, 6:30-7:30pm
Tuesday, June 11, 6:30-7:30pm
Thursday, June 13, 6:30-7:30pm
Thursday, June 20, 6:00-7:00pm