High Country Citizen Science Project
Mountain Goat: Paul Ollig; Pika and Nutcracker: NPS
Mountain goats and bighorn sheep are counted at mapped sites throughout Glacier's backcountry during a one-hour observational survey. During an all-day training, CCRLC staff members instruct citizen scientists on species identification and survey methods for the High Country Project. Once trained, Citizen scientists head to backcountry survey sites and document number, sex, and age of goats and sheep observed as well as their behavior and habitat.
Citizen scientists document pika distribution by hiking to a designated survey site and observing for five minutes – looking and listening for pikas and their calls. They then traverse the talus for 15 to 30 minutes, documenting the presence of scat, haypiles, pikas, or calls.
We ask that participants try to conduct at least three surveys during the field season (on their own time), choosing survey sites based on personal hiking ability and preference. If you would like to learn more about the High Country Citizen Science Project, you can download a copy of the education presentation, using the link below.
High Country Citizen Science Presentation -- (PDF, 1.4MB)