NCI's Pika Project seeks volunteers

The wildlife division of North Cascades National Park, in conjunction with North Cascades Institute, is seeking highly motivated and responsible individuals to collect data on pika abundance, distribution, and habitat use throughout the Park Complex during summer and early fall 2012. The research will continue a project started in 2009 to help further address factors influencing pika abundance and habitat use, and document population trends. Pikas are a proposed indicator species for climate change and have been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Volunteers may commit to day trips, multi-day trips, or for the entire project, with priority given to those who can commit for extended periods for consistency purposes. The work will be conducted as part of a 2-4 person field crew and involve extensive backcountry hiking and camping, and off-trail travel across rugged terrain. Frontcountry trips can usually be completed in a day, while backcountry trips will range between 2-5 days in length.

NCI has created a Yahoo group page for the project:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/pikaproject

For more info, please email:
 

Ashley Kvitek

Graduate Student, North Cascades Institute

Citizen Science/Stewardship

Ashley_Kvitek @ ncascades.org