MOUNT VERNON — Maybe you are at a remote trailhead parking lot, having just finished a hike. Or you’re pedaling your mountain bike on an old logging road. Or you’re simply checking out the back-40 of your property.

All of the sudden you notice a deer being loaded into the bed of a truck and quickly covered. The only problem is that deer season is closed.

Maybe you are fishing and the angler down the bank from you is hauling in one fish after another, stuffing his creel with enough fish to put him over the legal limit. 

Would you know what to do? Who to call? What pertinent information to commit to memory?

If you are interesting in learning what action to take when witnessing a possible incident of poaching, then the Eyes In The Woods-sponsored Crime Observation Reporting Training class is for you. For those interested in the state’s Master Hunting program, the class is a requirement.

A Crime Observation Reporting Training class will be offered at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Burlington.

Registration is being taken at Sportsman’s Warehouse or through Earl Steele at 360-752-8352 or 360-739-6667. The class is free.

“We usually have pretty good turnouts in Burlington,” said Steele, the Eyes In The Woods region training coordinator who teaches Fisheries Technology at Bellingham Technical Institute. “Last spring, we had about 30.

“I have my students go through it, since many of them are going to be involved in fish and wildlife. It’s just a great program.”

Eyes In The Woods is a non-profit organization that works with state and provincial governments in the “protection and the perpetuation of our natural resources.”

It locates areas of need, educates and organizes volunteers in resource protection, research and habitat enhancement projects. It also assists with the reduction of poaching, other resource abuses and the collecting of scientific data.

There is a $15 annual membership fee to join Eyes In The Woods.

“We run on state grants,” explained Kyle Winton, president of Eyes In The Woods.

On Wednesday, attendees will learn from a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer how to identify, document and report natural resource crimes — everything from poaching elk to spotting an angler not using a barbless hook.

“Our goal,” said Winton, “is to create a network of trained citizens dedicated to reducing poaching and other natural resource abuses through a non-confrontational expert witness program.”

Winton added with the shortage of WDFW officers to enforce laws, natural resources have taken a beating.

“It’s tough,” he said. “There are some places where there is one officer covering two counties. It’s in situations like that where we can really help.”

C.O.R.T teaches how to identify, document and report violators, and how to get the pertinent details that will allow investigating officers to build a case.
“Knowing who to contact is half the battle,” said Steele.

The process is completely confidential.

“You learn the whole nine yards,” Winton said of the class. “You are going to learn to document what is needed by the officer to investigate. So many people pick up the phone to do the right thing, then either hang up or they don’t have the information that officers really need.”

Winton came up with the idea for Eyes In The Woods in 1997. While vice president of hunting for the Northwest Archery Association, he witnessed just how rampant poaching had become.

He approached then WDFW Chief of Enforcement Ron Swatfigure and asked what could be done to assist in the identifying and prosecuting of poachers.

Swatfigure’s reply was to the point — be a good witness.

“I asked him what we could do along that line,” recalled Winton, “and he said what was needed was a program that would develop good witnesses, witnesses that could supply enough information that an officer could follow it up.”

So Winton and Jim Tuggle sat down and developed a class that would do just that. And with that, Eyes In The Woods and C.O.R.T. were formed.

“Our mission has always been to recruit, train and organize volunteers for the WDFW,” said Winton. “It’s completely non-confrontational. We don’t want any Ramboes out there.”

Winton said Eyes In The Woods continues to flourish thanks to the support of WDFW Chief of Enforcement Bruce Bjork.

In 2008, about 1,100 participated in C.O.R.T classes in Washington. About 3,000 have taken the course since it began.

Class locations vary.

There are several host locations, such as Sportsman’s Warehouse. Clubs can also offer to host a class. It’s as simple as making a call and getting 10 or more people to register.

“That (getting enough interested folks) hasn’t been a problem,” said Winton. “We had over 90 attend a class in Ellensburg. That just goes to show there are a lot of people who really care about natural resources.

“It’s just very rewarding. There are a lot of quality people involved with it. The citizens who take this class are dedicated to finding solutions to the problem of poaching. The more eyes and ears out there the better.”

Poachers tend to be aware of game warden activity. Adding others to the mix is a definite deterrent.

“They may not be a uniformed officer,” said Steele, “but the poacher doesn’t have any idea who may be watching when there are other people around.”

Those who complete the class are provided with a field booklet with contact numbers, a bumper sticker and a certificate from the WDFW.

Again, C.O.R.T. graduates are to use non-confrontational methods. That may be as easy as providing information to the violators.

“We want them to educate,” said Steele. “Maybe they just give the person a copy of the regulations, or tell them they need to pinch the barb on their hook or that the limit is two fish. It can be as simple as saying: ‘By the way, do you know lures aren’t allowed?’ It doesn’t always have to end in penalties.

“After completing the course, you know when you need to call and when you don’t. It’s really all about education.”

So, has the program made a dent in the number of natural resource-related crimes? It’s hard to say.

“There are just so many variables,” admitted Winton. “If nothing else, at least we know the quality of the information that officers receive is improving. That’s bound to be better.”

Since its inception, Eyes In The Woods has branched out into volunteering.

Its members open and close gates on land owned by timber companies, which either didn’t have the manpower or security to allow public access. They staff big game check stations, help gather field data, post Game Management Unit boundaries, take part in Streamwatch and participate in deer and elk capture, study and relocation.

“We’ve gone so far as to be involved in tracking pond turtles,” said Winton. “We’ve picked up garbage and such.”

The Eyes In The Woods program is available only in Washington. Winton said he has had requests to expand to other states, but has declined.

“The whole thing is still relatively new,” said Winton. “We are still working out the bugs. We aren’t going to expand until everything is perfect. We certainly don’t want to grow past our infrastructure. We don’t want to start taking one step forward and three backward before falling on our face.”

In the meantime, poachers in Washington will have to worry that Eyes In The Woods may be staring at them.

Vince Richardson can be reached at 360-416-2181 or by e-mail at .