Wilderness Awareness School Presents

Oregon Dunes
Wildlife Tracking Field Course

A field class on how to find and identify track and sign on the Landscape

Oregon “Umpqua” Dunes Field Course

April 28th - April 30th

(Wed - Fri 8:30 - 4:30)

Instructors Marcus Reynerson , Sandy Reed & Kevin O’Malley

Register/Click Here for Wilderness Awareness School Oregon Wildlife Tracking Field Course

This is more than a workshop it a field class as we will be integrated into the landscape and the group for three days which in turn gets us connected with the animals and plants that live in the Umpqua Dunes. We will live and breath wildlife tracking and we will all be better trackers on the other side! You will never forget this trip as the landscape and the tracks have followed me around for a decade.

"Wildlife tracking and ecological context are so intertwined that it is hard to study one without studying the other. The ecological tracking class with South Sound Nature School help to bring the individual tracks of species to life on a broader landscape and gives much-needed context for where, when, and why animals use different spaces on the landscape. I highly recommend it for all interested in tracking."  Amanda Wildlife Biologist WA State

This class gave me so many ideas about how to find more tracks and sign:
-- planning what I wanted to find ahead of the day’s excursion
—consulting a map for landscape features prior to arrival and then scanning the area when ready to start
—thinking about how an animal would move across a landscape and for what purposes
—then moving away from thinking mode into be-the-animal mode. Where would I feel safe? How would I move?
—stopping to experience the track/sign location. What time of day was the animal here? What were the conditions? Jan - Avid Tracker & Naturalist

Oregon Coast Ecosystems

One of the largest expanses of temperate coastal sand dunes in the world, the stark, mist-shrouded views of dunes, forests, and ocean in such close proximity to one another are rare and hauntingly beautiful. Many plants and animals, including some found in few other places, call this area home. Many types of birds call the Oregon Dunes home!

The Oregon Dunes are over 100,000 years old and stretch approximately 40 miles. The youngest dunes, which are the closest to the ocean, began forming about 7,000 years ago. Studies of individual sand grains show that these sands were carried down from the mountains by the Umpqua, Siuslaw, and other smaller rivers.

The sand dunes were formed by wind and water over time. The dune formation is mainly dependent on the wind. These winds move large amounts of sand, reshaping the dunes' structure. Water also plays a role in dune formation. Waves and tides dredge sand from the ocean floor and deposit it onto the beaches, where the wind takes over.

Your Lead Instructor Marcus Reynerson has had an affinity for the living world since childhood. He is a naturalist, educator, and photographer. He has worked in wilderness education, outdoor leadership, and conservation for numerous organizations and communities across North America. He is engaged in telling stories that bring to light and life, the complexity of humans living in the 21st century. Originally from Louisville, Marcus currently lives in the Snoqualmie Valley in Washington State, just east of Seattle, where he is the Lead Instructor for an internationally renowned environmental leadership immersion program for adults at the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, WA.Through this experience, you will grow a skillset in exploring the vast world of wildlife tracking. While we will certainly cover some of key fundamental themes, every tracking experience is unique, and we will go where the tracks take us.

Your Instructor Sandy Reed has spent her life teaching both outside and inside the classroom. She loves to travel the world tracking and exploring and she currently holds several Wildlife Tracking Certifications including a Specialist in Track and Sign and Level 3 in Trailing in North America and also holds a Professional Track and assign certification in Africa. She is currently in training to become a CyberTracker Track and Sign Evaluator in the Midwest region. Sandy is a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow and traveled to Antarctica as a Nat Geo Teacher Explorer in 2023. She has also earned several environmental teaching awards, the most recent being the Franklin Soil and Water’s Conservation Environmental Educator of the Year in 2024 and the Green Difference Award in 2017. These recognize her as one of the top Outstanding Green Educator Program Directors in the country. She spends her free time chairing the Outreach Committee for Tracker Certification North America and loves to camp, hunt and fish with her husband Cal.

Your Instructor lead naturalist and birder Kevin O’Malley at South Sound Nature School has been leading & teaching beginners, intermediate & expert birders wanting to go deeper and further their knowledge about habitats and behaviors of birds. Particularly Birds of the Eastern Cascades by identification, behavior and unique Shrub-Steppe & Eastern Ponderosa Pine Forest habitats. Kevin is particularly skilled in noticing bird tracks, nest, pellets & feeding signs these clues are important part of finding your favorite bird track or sign. Kevin is Level 3 Track & Sign and has a Level 3 Trailing certificate. More importantly Kevin has spent extensive time in the field with Casey McFarland and Marcus Reynerson. He is a Kamana 4, an Immersion Graduate and has a degree in Cultural Anthropology.

Topics that will likely be explored:

• Basic wildlife foot physiology and morphology
• The Natural History of Landscapes
• Clear print identification
• Concepts in behavior and wildlife sign interpretation
• How wildlife interacts with landscapes
• Thinking about how to age tracks and sign on the landscape Whether an experienced or beginning tracker and naturalist, participants will leave this experience looking at the ground in a completely different way with new tools to continue to develop themselves as naturalists

Whether beginner or advanced, every participant will walk away with a lot more knowledge and “search images” for the subtle patterns left behind by life on the landscape, ultimately feeling a stronger connection to the natural world.

The goal is to make you better wildlife tracker so you can go out in the field and find tracks and sign. You will leave being able to confidently identifying tracks & sign and understanding trailing an animal in a safe and ethical way.

Participants are being asked to purchase their own camping and bring own food but we all will be camping together if you choose Ell Creek Campground Sites. Toilets and water are available on site at campground.

Camping available on site: at Ell Creek Campground

Coos Bay is close and has restaurants, grocery stores, hotels & AirB&B’s.

SSNS is a financial supporter of Tracker Certification North America and an ambassador for more people wanting to experience wildlife tracks & sign and make it a part of thier life.