In the late 1980’s, the Friends of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve formed a joint field team with the San Diego Biodiversity Project to map existing and potential wildlife corridors to the north. Developments to the east, west, and south precluded the possibility of fully functioning corridors in these directions. This field team developed a set of corridor maps which were presented to the Environmental Divisions of public agencies such as the City of San Diego and CalTrans as well as before community groups and landowner organizations. After a period of review and refinement, the joint team organized a field trip with noted conservation biologist and wildlife habitat expert Professor Mike Soulé, as well as biologists from many other agencies, who together, validated the wildlife corridor mapping. This mapping subsequently influenced the need for, and suitable location of wildlife corridors in the Framework Plan for the Future Urbanizing Area of the City of San Diego, Neighborhoods 10 and 8A (in Carmel Valley) and other areas. Later, these corridors were included in the Multiple Species Conservation Program plan for the City and County of San Diego.

The founding of the Friend’s Tracking Team in 1993 led to important wildlife survey work in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, particularly around a wildlife tunnel that was constructed under Lopez Ridge as part of the residential development of this ridge. This work and related work on wildlife corridors east through Sabre Springs and west under the I-5/I-805 merge in Sorrento Valley have added valuable data to the study of what makes for successful and unsuccessful wildlife tunnels and corridors.

When it was determined that a transect-based wildlife survey was needed, Susan Morse, executive director of Keeping Track, Inc., was consulted. She came to San Diego to introduce us to the Keeping Track® program of wildlife surveys using trained volunteers and to make recommendations for our study. The SDTT wildlife monitoring protocol was developed based on a combination of the recommendations from Susan Morse and our own experience.

In 1999, the Mt. Woodson Wildlife Trackers in Ramona joined forces with the Los Peñasquitos Tracking Team, and the SDTT was born. Since 2001, the San Diego Tracking Team has been an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization functioning as an umbrella organization for our member tracking teams.