POCATELLO — On Friday and Saturday, Watershed Guardians will host trainings and then between Sunday and Feb. 7 will complete its 10th annual BeaverCount, a free snowshoe event to raise awareness of the important role beaver play in keeping the Portneuf Watershed healthy.

Trainings will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Cherry Springs Nature Area on Mink Creek. There, trainers will share knowledge and skills useful for exploring the winter watershed on snowshoes.

The trainings will include winter outdoor preparedness and beaver censusing techniques. Participants will also learn fun facts about their watershed. The trainings are for newcomers and count veterans, known as “Flattailers.” Flattailers are encouraged to update their skills by attending one of these trainings. Social distancing is required. Participants are encouraged to bring their own snacks and lunch.

Then, between Sunday and Feb. 7, trained volunteers can census at their convenience, but teams must complete by 4 p.m. This will help reduce traffic on the Mink Creek and allow participants to pick their best time to travel. Participants must count in teams of two or more, must register and must call in at 208-232-0825 before 4 p.m. on their return.

Thanks to generous donors, snowshoes will be provided for trainings and for count participants, but they should be picked up the night before from the ISU Outdoor Adventure Center (208-282-3912) located in the lower level of the Pond Student Union on the lower Idaho State University campus. Participants must pre-register at the website www.watershedguardians.org/beavercount to obtain snowshoes from ISU.

Watershed Guardians’ teams must guarantee that they will text or call both when they depart to count and when they return to 208-232-0525 the day that they count. No duplicate days, please. All volunteers must be trained before they will be allowed to participate in BeaverCount 2022. Registrants are automatically entered in three contests: best photo, best team name and best story as recorded on a video.

Watershed Guardians is a nonprofit whose mission is to, “Protect, maintain and restore the Portneuf River Watershed, one beaver at a time.” Data collected from BeaverCount is used to reveal any significant changes in beaver populations and help ensure beavers’ continued existence in our watershed.More info can be found at www.watershedguardians.org, facebook.com/watershedguardians, by emailing mike@watershedguardians.org or by texting 208-232-0825.