BLOG
Creating Inclusive Outdoor Spaces for Wildlife Trackers in Maine: A Guest Article
EQUITABLE OUTDOOR ACCESS
Trackers considering a question about whose scat was deposited on a granite outcropping.
Photo credit: Tracker Certification
On a brisk, but sunny, Friday afternoon in late autumn, 14 Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) individuals arrived at the Desert of Maine Campground and Center for the Arts and Ecology. They traveled from many corners of the state — Lewiston, Unity, Solon, and Clinton — to participate in a wildlife tracking certification program held specifically for BIPOC individuals.
As certified wildlife trackers affiliated with Tracker Certification of North America (TCNA), we shared these participants’ enthusiasm for the program. Our decades of working as outdoor educators, community organizers, nonprofit leaders, and wildlife trackers in Maine have inspired a passion for fostering ecological literacy and reducing the barriers to the outdoors that marginalized groups often face. TCNA’s BIPOC-focused tracking certification retreat was an opportunity for us to act on those values and make space outdoors for members of underserved groups.
Developing a Vision for Equitable Outdoor Programming
While the Desert of Maine campground was officially closed for the season, campground owners Mela Jones and Doug Heestand graciously welcomed us to stay as their guests, an act of generosity that was the result of a chance meeting one of us had with the owners in a parking lot two years prior.
The accommodations provided for our weekend stay varied from wood-stove-heated wall tents and A-frame cabins to a fully-accessible mini-lodge. A stream-side firepit served as our central gathering place, and we had an outdoor “dining hall” for meals and a community hub for sharing ideas and imagining possibilities. Departing from this homebase campground, participants would embark on field expeditions to learn about wildlife tracking, and some would earn Levels I, II, and III certifications through TCNA’s CyberTracker Track and Sign Certification program.
Because we both believe that tracking is an unmatched gateway to building a relationship with the natural world, we started there, with this ancient skill that’s embedded in all of our DNA. To engage with a practice that takes a lifetime to develop, we invited our friend and TCNA Evaluator, Daniel Hansche, to lead the two-day workshop, one of 113 held in North America in 2024. Developed by Indigenous San Master Tracker !Nate Brahman and South African evolutionary biologist Louis Liebenberg, the CyberTracker certification process is globally recognized as an unparalleled tool for learning about local wildlife and preserving and advancing tracking skills.
While the certification program was a key feature of the weekend, the impetus to gather stretched beyond representation of BIPOC in the field of tracking. Combined, we’ve worked for three decades in environmental and outdoor education, seeing firsthand the lack of diversity in the field, particularly in leadership and teaching roles. We know there are exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable BIPOC naturalists, hunters, and birders out there, some whose competence just needs a platform for exposure and elevation. We needed to build some momentum and develop a collaborative vision for achieving that.
Building a Relationship With the Natural World
As we entered Desert of Maine’s sandy landscape, we considered a trail of footprints slowly deteriorating in the wind. From there, scrape marks on a small eastern hemlock tree revealed the work of a hungry white-tailed deer seeking the nutritious cambium layer beneath the outer bark. We discovered “cocoa-puff”-shaped scat left by a snowshoe hare at the woodland edge, a clue that these silent and mostly invisible critters were among us.
Daniel posed a series of questions to help us access this knowledge and illuminate the world around us:
- Who made these tracks?
- What’s the animal’s direction of travel?
- What happened on this section of the trail?
- Whose scat is this?
- Who’s been feeding here?
Each tracking question led to another, revealing layers of connection among plants, trees, fungi, mammals, and birds — the tales of their interactions are woven with footprints, tooth marks, antler scrapes, bill probes, and nesting holes.
Why Not Us?
Our group considered nearly 30 questions each day, and we spent our evenings gathered at the campfire to enjoy a meal together. There, we discussed how we can collectively create more nature-centered experiences for our BIPOC community members and families. One particularly poignant moment came with another question: “Is there any reason why we, as BIPOC individuals, can’t be the ones leading nature programming here in Maine?”
Why not, indeed?
That question served as a compass for all discussions that followed. We proposed programming that those in the circle could potentially lead, including a canoe trip, a nature-art class, a tree-identification walk, a fishing workshop, and so much more. We dreamed about where in Maine we could offer this programming and who we could partner with to bring the programs to fruition. We shared the barriers and fears we’ve experienced while recreating out in nature here in Maine. We figured out the frequency of programming to offer and considered what ages of people we could serve.
The energy around the campfire was electric, with each program idea inspiring another and reminding the group just how much combined wisdom and experience we had to share. This energy carried us through the remaining hours of our weekend together. We applauded the people in our group who earned TCNA Track and Sign Certifications, an indicator of their competency interpreting tracks and animal behavior. Then, we shared our contact information and committed to staying connected and working together to make our ideas a reality.
The Future of BIPOC-Oriented Programming
In January, our geographically spread out group gathered virtually to set intentions, share resources for supporting lead educators, and develop a calendar of events. Since then, our collective vision for inclusive programming has come alive.
To date, we’ve held:
- A community wildlife tracking walk at the Viles Arboretum in Augusta
- A nature crafting event at Bates College in Lewiston
- A “build a bird” workshop to explore bird anatomy at Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment
- A three-day BIPOC-focused clinic in outdoor leadership
We’re welcoming new BIPOC friends, their blended families, and their allies into these programs, and we’ll continue to do so with upcoming monthly events, including a green crab harvest workshop and fire-making skills training.
Nothing replaces seeing someone who reflects your identity teaching skills that have otherwise seemed inaccessible. In our beautiful state of Maine, the unceded ancestral homelands of the Wabanaki peoples, a growing number of BIPOC naturalists are sharing our love of the natural world, our outdoor skills, and naturalist knowledge with others, creating a sense of belonging for individuals who so often walk along the margins.