Tracking wildlife is an ancient art and one needed again to help monitor the travel patterns of deer, coyote and other critters. Only this time the tracking is to help wildlife biologists, not hunters.

Expert trackers will teach a two-day intensive tracking course in Eldorado March 28-29 to "grassroots naturalists" who agree to monitor wildlife movements in Santa Fe and Sandoval counties over the course of a year. Track measurements, descriptions and photos collected by volunteers will help wildlife biologists and global positioning system specialists build a database of wildlife corridors from the Galisteo Basin to Placitas, according to Peter Callen, who is coordinating the workshop.

Professional tracker Casey McFarland and wildlife biologist Tanya Diamond will teach participants how different species move through human-built and natural landscapes, how to "read" the land, look for tracks and collect data. "McFarland has done this around the country with a lot of different groups," said Callen, who began learning to track animals a couple of years ago.

McFarland grew up in New Mexico and began tracking wildlife as a youth. The Cedar Crest resident is a wildlife track and sign specialist certified through South African-based CyberTracker Conservation. He is one of four national evaluators in the country for the nonprofit organization, which works with Conservation International.

CyberTracker trains and certifies local wildlife field observers to help build databases using actual observation combined with satellite technology and computer modeling. Sending people out to look for tracks is a way of "ground truthing" computer models created by biologists to show animals' migratory paths.

Callen said this first workshop is only the beginning and others will be offered in the future. Space in the first workshop is limited, and organizers primarily want people who will commit to monitoring wildlife movements once a month.

Wildlife Corridors of New Mexico, a project of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, also is participating in this workshop.

The two-day workshop costs $100, which includes all materials, equipment and snacks. To request an application, e-mail Peter Callen at 4winged@gmail.com

For more information about McFarland, visit wildlifetrackingsouthwest.com/about_casey_mcfarland. Information about CyberTracker Conservation is at www.cybertracker.org.

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.