MTJP CORPS · MORE THAN JUST PARKS ·MTJP Corps
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MTJP CORPS · MORE THAN JUST PARKS ·
A place we watch

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Timing

Nothing is open on this one today. It is a place the Corps keeps an eye on, so we see the paperwork the day it lands.

What is worth photographing here

Out on the Coastal Plain, photograph the Porcupine caribou and the sign they leave: cows with calves in early summer, worn trail ruts across the tundra, tracks, droppings, shed antlers. Date every frame.

Why we watch it

America's last true wilderness. The Coastal Plain is the calving ground for 200,000 Porcupine caribou and sacred to the Gwich'in, who call it "the sacred place where life begins." The government keeps trying to auction it off for oil drilling that even the industry doesn't want. A sacrifice zone in search of a buyer.

How to record it so it counts

  1. 01Photograph any sign: tracks, scat, feathers, rubs, nests, dens, burrows, carcasses. Put something for scale beside it (a coin, a pole tip, your boot).
  2. 02Photograph the surroundings so the habitat shows.
  3. 03Note the time of day and the weather.
  4. 04Keep your distance from any animal. Never approach a nest or a den.
  5. 05Write down what you think it is and why. If you’re not sure, say so; a photo of unidentified sign is still sign.
What would count
  • Presence, not absence. Sign proves something is there; a quiet walk proves nothing.
  • Scale, time and habitat in the same set.
All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide
Nothing to answer yet

Nobody is asking you to go here today. We watch this place so that the day a decision opens on it, the people who already know it hear the same week. If you are out here anyway, what you photograph now is worth more later than anything taken after the paperwork lands.

Before you go
  1. Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
  2. Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
  3. Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
  4. Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
  5. If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.