Inventorying and Monitoring Wildlife in New Hampshire

Landowners and others with an interest in wildlife will enjoy the UNH Cooperative Extension publication, "A Landowner's Guide to Inventorying & Monitoring Wildlife in NH" (PDF 1.2MB) first published in 2004 and available for free online (or order a hardcopy for $10 here)

Today, there are a whole new range of technology-based inventory methods and citizen science efforts to add to the tried-and-true methods of quiet observation and journal-keeping.

Start with the "Landowner's Guide," and then try your hand (or your phone!) using one of these new technololgy-based tools: 

• Keep an online journal - are you mystified by the term "blog"?  It's just an online journal, and it's a great way to record your wildlife observations and on your land or on a local conservation parcel. Here's a great example written by volunteers who are Forest Society land stewards for the Society's Moose Mountains Reservation. 

• Contribute your observations to a national, online citizen science project: There's one for every type of wildlife, but the largest project for those interested in birds is eBird, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

• Contribute your observations to NH Fish and Game through the NH Wildlife Sightings Database, a new initiative to combine scientific records and citizen observations. 

• Share your observations on Facebook: wildlife observations are an incredibly engaging use of social media technology. Check out this example of bird research being done by UNH Cooperative Extension wildlife biologist Matt Tarr. He's sharing his observations, and everyone else benefits by feeling a part of his project.  Very fun!