Find and record as many WILD animals, plants, fungi and other species as possible during this year’s City Nature Challenge. This global collaborative event motivates people to connect to nature and engage with citizen science.

• Join this project to receive updates and monitor progress on Teton County in the 2023 CNC.
• Check out observations from around the world in the 2023 global CNC.
• See how we are doing relative to other communities in the region in the 2023 CNC Northern Rocky Mountain Challenge.

Goals of the CNC

• Connect people to their local nature
• Connect people to each other: build community in person & online around local nature
• Collect biodiversity data available to use for science, management, and conservation
• Grow volunteer biodiversity documentation globally
• Have fun through some friendly competition!

How to Participate

Create an iNatualist account and consider downloading an app

• How to use iNaturalist or Getting started with iNaturalist
• iNaturalist App: Apple, Android
• Seek App: Apple, Android
• iNaturalist vs Seek

Observe WILD organisms between Friday April 28 and Sunday May 1

• Written guides on creating/uploading observations
• Video tutorials on creating/uploading observations
• Mark organisms that are NOT wild as captive/cultivated
• Only observations within Teton County, WY and Teton County, ID during this timeframe will count. However, observations in other locations and taken at other times still contribute to the iNaturalist citizen scientist effort.
  

Finish uploading organisms by Sunday May 7

• If you don’t want to (or can’t) upload during the bioblitz, you can upload pictures to the website or app after you observe them.
• Global results will be announced Monday May 8, 2023.

Help identify organisms

• We try to identify as much as we can by May 7, but the identification process is ongoing. Experts and enthusiasts continually improve identifications and align taxonomy to reflect the most recent scientific evidence.
• Anyone can help identify unknowns
• If you have expertise (trained professional OR local knowledge), you can help identify species you are familiar with.

Monitor your observations as they are identified to keep learning

• View notifications in the apps or website.
• Turn on email notifications to receive a daily digest of updates to your observations.

Upcoming bioblitzes in Teton County

• 2023 Summer Northern Rocky Mountain Biodiversity Challenge: June 8 - June 11
• Wyoming BioBlitz: July 21-24
• 2023 Fall Northern Rocky Mountain Biodiversity Challenge: September 14 - September 17, 2023

Teton Counties WY and ID will be participating in this year’s City Nature Challenge April 28 - May 1. You can learn more about this world wide event by checking out the project is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-teton-county-wy. You do not need to join the project to participate, but consider joining to receive updates.

As luck would have it, we’re finally supposed to have a sunny weekend without snow! That should make for great conditions to observe organisms that thrive in the early spring. On the project site, you will also find information about the CNC and additional BioBlitzes occurring this year.

It’s pretty hard to know who among the top IDers in the area are local and might be around in the shoulder season. I looked for users that seem to have most of their observations from around the area and users with recent activity. I’ve tagged people I think might be interested below.
@alorenz, @swhippss, @kerrykey, @humblegardener, @paulgraham, @john1569, @orindaacademy, @birder0288, @nhwinterrose, @mmeslobos, @hydapse, @jackofalltrades, @williamp25, @casey_keeley, @jonahand, @lranelli

Happy iNatting!

Wow! We have had such amazing participation and there are so many wonderful observations.

Thanks to the Teton Science School for their support of the CNC in Teton County. Without you, we would not have had nearly as much engagement. They worked with a science teacher at Munger Mountain Elementary to lead a BioBlitz yesterday, resulting in 70 observations. Today, they coordinated an event at Rendezvous Park with educational tables, field kits, and an art activity. Shout out as well to Trout Unlimited and the Town of Jackson for sending representatives to provide education on our local wildlife conservation efforts.

So far, the project has 207 observations of at least 92 species!!! Considering that it was just snowing on Tuesday and there is still snow in the valley, this is impressive. Birds are dominating the list with 78 observations. Insects and arachnids have also been getting attention, which is fantastic because they are underrepresented in iNat on our area. Many of the animals that we associate with the Tetons were also observed including:

• Greater Sage Grouse
• Mountain Bluebird
• Moose
• Elk/Wapiti
• Bison
• Big Horn Sheep

Unexpected finds included 2 frogs. Is there anything in our observations that surprised you? Have you seen something unexpected?

The trail report from Friends of Pathways said that almost all of our trails still have snow, except Adams Canyon (behind the recycling center). I checked out Nelson Knob and Putt Putt today. Nelson Knob is clear, but Putt Putt is still snow covered to the parking lot. Still tomorrow looks like it will be another gorgeous day and we are fortunate to have many places to view wildlife in our community. Enjoy yourself and Happy iNatting!