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Alissa Rafferty tracks wildlife in the Adirondacks © TNC

Connectivity is a term conservationists use to refer to land and water links that allow fish and wildlife to move safely from habitat to habitat—without, for instance, being run over by a car or caught in a dry culvert. Maintaining and improving habitat connectivity is a key conservation strategy for The Nature Conservancy as we look at ecological issues across large landscapes, such as the Adirondacks and the Northern Forest.

In the winter of 2011, two field technicians working for the Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter tracked wildlife movement in the Booneville, New York, area, which is in the Black River Valley. This year, they will be working in the Southern Lake Champlain Valley between New York and Vermont. The work is part of a $1 million grant awarded by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grant program toward a four-state effort called Staying Connected in the Northern Appalachians.

In her own words, Alissa Rafferty, one of the field technicians, reflects on her experience and anticipates what’s ahead:

Decoding tracks and clues
"Tracking was a really fun challenge. What surprised me was how much more there is to it than looking at an individual track. You have to take in all of the surroundings, all of the context. When we first felt stumped by a track, we could look for other clues, including habitat, how the animal moved, the direction it was going, and the pattern it left behind."

Wildlife and water
"We are always told how important water is to animals, especially during winter when it can be hard to find. It was neat to actually see this firsthand from the high density of tracks we observed around creeks and streams."

Mink X-ing
"One of our neatest observations was in a stream that ran through a culvert under the road. We would often see mink tracks going through the culvert to the other side. On a day when the culvert was buried in snow, a mink approached, realized the opening was blocked, then turned away and was forced to cross up and over the road. It was valuable to see how certain roadside features can play such a strong role in influencing an animal’s movement and potential safety."

Winter 2012
"Key sections of roadways and potential wildlife crossings have already been identified in the Adirondack/Vermont linkage using computer models. It will be interesting to see how our field work compares to the models. I’m hoping we get a positive track I.D. of a bobcat!"

Alissa and her fellow technician have their work cut out for them. By the end of last year’s project, which was augmented with carefully-placed motion-sensitive cameras in the spring, they collected 1,167 tracking records and measured and mapped 215 underpasses (bridges and culverts), 124 guardrails, and 74 fences. Ultimately, the data collected will help the New York State Department of Transportation determine where road adaptations could be made at no or low cost to ensure safe driving for people and safe passage for wildlife. For instance, within the next year or so, the Conservancy plans to work locally with highway crews on some wildlife-friendly retrofits for culverts.