Classes

Western Tracking Institute

You may pay with a credit card for any of the events listed below, just click on the "Buy Now" button. You may also
send a check to WTI, 18030 Highland Valley Road, Ramona, CA 92065. In either case please click on "Registration"
above and submit the registration form so that we may better serve you. Call 858-775-7227 if you have questions.

2010 Western Tracking Institute Class Schedule

For 2010 WTI is offering many exciting courses designed to help you become an excellent all-round
tracker/naturalist. These courses are the best value available in the country for a tracking curriculum.

Tracker/Naturalist Certification Series
Featuring:

Class 1*
Monthly Saturday Dirt Time Sessions
Jul 10, Aug 7, Sept 11, Oct 2 all Saturdays 8-4

Join tracking expert Barry Martin for extensive dirt time sessions including detailed instruction in track and sign and trailing
skills. This will be "home room" for the 2010 curriculum and is the cornerstone of the Certification Series allowing you to
progress and develop over a ten month period to assimilate and internalize your track recognition and trailing skills, including
the opportunity to participate in practical tracking data gathering. These sessions, combined with the strong foundation you will
be building in the courses described below will propel you toward your goal of becoming a capable, certified tracker. To buy
this class series, click Buy Now here:

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Class 2*
3 San Diego Tracking Team Tracker/Naturalist Classes; Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced
(Beg. class completed; Intermediate: Sept 22/25; Advanced: Nov 3/6; Wed evening 7-9 and 8-4 Sat each class)

The SDTT Tracker/Naturalist classes are conducted by the Los Penasquitos Tracking Team (LPTT), San Diego's first wildlife
tracking team, where the SDTT originated. LPTT has been running these classes since the early 1990's primarily with the intent
of training competent trackers for the SDTT quarterly data collection effort. These courses will help you expand your
capabilities as a tracker/naturalist and provide you with a solid base of knowledge that will help you better assimilate the
information that will be covered in the nine Saturday sessions described above. For full credit in the WTI curriculum you will be
required to participate as a volunteer on at least one SDTT track and sign survey route per quarter where you will acquire
valuable practical tracking experience. To buy this class series, click Buy Now here:

Class Fee $150

Class 3*
Photography for Trackers with Lee Kirchhevel
Sept 17-18 Fri evening 7-9 and Sat 8-4

Accomplished wildlife photographer, tracker, and one of the founding members of the Los Penasquitos Tracking Team, Lee
Kirchhevel will be conducting this excellent class. Last year we hosted Lee for the first running of Photography for Trackers,
and it was a big hit. As any competent tracker knows, the ability to take good photos is an essential ingredient in the journaling
and study of the art and science of tracking. Lee helps you get the most out of your camera in various lighting conditions so
that when you get home and review the photos you took in the field you'll be able to see the detail reproduced that you expect
and not just a picture of dirt. To buy this class, click Buy Now here:

Class Fee $90

Class 4*
San Diego County Plants and Plant Communities Series with Mike Crouse
June 19, 2010 Saturday 8-12

Mike has gained tremendous knowledge of San Diego County plant communities and the individual plants within those
communities by spending a lot of time in the field with some of the best plant experts in the country. He will be sharing this
knowledge in 5 sessions (3 completed), each held in a different San Diego County location through the spring to take maximum
advantage of the various bloom times. By gaining a solid working knowledge of plants and associated wildlife, the tracker's
capabilities are multiplied as he looks out onto a landscape and visualizes what species are present. His task then boils down to
confirming what he knows ought to be there via the evidence. An expert tracker knows plant communities and the associated
fauna; here is your opportunity to open the door to that capability. To buy this class series, click Buy Now here:

Fee per class $30

Class 5*
Raptors of San Diego with Dave Bittner
Already held in 2009; TBA for 2011

San Diego County is home to one of the foremost raptor experts, Dave Bittner, Director of the Wildlife Research Institute (WRI)
based in the Ramona Grasslands. Dave has been conducting extensive research on golden eagles from Montana to San Diego
for many years, and WRI is the home of the popular "Hawk Watch" sessions held each January and February. Dave will
broaden your tracker/naturalist horizons by imparting some of his extensive knowledge in a Friday evening session followed by
a day in the field on Saturday. This class will provide an important link in your overall package of tracking knowledge as you will
see the integral roll these magnificent birds play in the ecosystem. To buy this class, click Buy Now here:

Class Fee $150

Class 6*
Trailing Workshop with Brian McConnell
Aug 20-21 or 22-23 or 21-22 as demand dictates

Brian McConnell, the first and only Senior Tracker so designated so far in the United States under the Cybertracker evaluation
system. Brian will again join us in August to help us hone our trailing skills. We will again look for cougar tracks to follow, as we
did in August of 2009, learning first hand the cougars' habits and movement routines by following its tracks and sharpening our
tracking/trailing skills in the process. To buy this class, click Buy Now here:

Class Fee $165

Class 7*
Track and Sign Evaluation with Jonah Evans
Nov 13-14

There will have been 10 months of intensive study, dirt time and practical application of your tracking skills through your
participation in all these classes. Now you have the opportunity to see where you stand as a tracker as well as learn even more
about tracking in what is one of the most efficient track and sign workshops ever devised. This is the payoff for all the work
you've done over the past year. If you have applied yourself and learned your lessons well, you will walk away from this with a
Track and Sign Certification from Cybertracker Conservation. To buy this class, click Buy Now here:

Evaluation Fee $275

Class 8*
Trailing Evaluation with Brian McConnell
Nov 20-21 or 19-20 or 21-22 as demand dictates

Brian returns to administer the trailing evaluation which can only be taken after you have received your track and sign
certificate. You will find a fresh trail and work to find the animal that left those tracks. This is where all the knowledge you have
acquired over the past 10 months comes together. This is what tracking is all about! To buy this class, click Buy Now here:

Evaluation Fee $450