The Khutzeymateen estuary, where numerous bears can be seen during salmon season or when succulent grasses are available. The valley is currently threatened by a proposal to log the ancient spruce trees found there. Should that happen, most of the bear habitat will be destroyed. Photo credit: Friends of Ecological Reserves photo.
Western Canada
A last stronghold of the monarch of North American wildlife
The case for a grizzly sanctuary
What better time than now for the federal and provincial governments to cooperatively create Canada's first grizzly bear sanctuary. This year is designated Wildlife '87, Canada's centenary celebration of the creation of the first national wildlife area, the Lost Mountain Waterfowl refuge in Saskatchewan.
Probably the best candidate for a grizzly bear sanctuary is the Khutzeymateen, a virgin valley on B.C.'s Pacific coast just north of Prince Rupert.
The Khutzeymateen's 39,000-hectare (90,000-acre) valley supports a robust and ancient coastal trilogy of grizzly bears, salmon and sitka spruce trees. From spring through autumn large numbers of these big bears congregate along the valley bottom to feed on green plants, roots and berries and especially on the salmon which travel upstream each year to spawn. This habitual trek of the grizzlies through the gigantic spruce and hemlock has left deeply entrenched trails on the mossy forest floor. Grizzlies also congregate on the estuary, which attracts other wildlife including migrating geese and ducks, bald eagles, harbour seals and wolves. Both orca and humpback whales frequent the saltwater from leading to the valley.
An ancient bear trail typical of those found in the Khutzeymateen Valley. Bears step in the same prints generation after generation, resulting in deep tracks occasionally mistaken by neophytes for prints of the mythical sasquatch. Photo credit: Environment Canada photo.
Now this idyllic and spectacular valley of the grizzlies faces destruction. In 1986 a wilderness advisory committee appointed by the British Columbia government recommended that more studies be done on how to log the valley while protecting the grizzlies at the same time. Most wildlife biologists say that this is impossible.
Everywhere that roads and civilization move in, grizzlies move out. Female grizzlies with cubs are especially vulnerable to disturbance. Grizzly bears are not as adaptable as black bears and have a lower reproductive rate. When activities such as logging occurs in their home territory, grizzly populations decline. These majestic bears need intact wilderness habitat in order to survive.
Sitka spruces such as this ancient tree will be filled if the B.C. government fails to establish a grizzly sanctuary in the Khutzeymateen. Without the trees, the habitat cannot support the healthy grizzly population it does now. Photo credit: Peter Thomas photo.
Forestry studies indicate that because of the high cost of access roads, a loss of more than $10 million would occur if the valley is logged. Four to five kilometres along the steep fjord walls would have to be blasted to create a roadway and would cost millions of dollars. The Khutzeymateen has never been licensed for logging and the provincial government could establish the sanctuary without costing the taxpayers a cent in compensation.
If logging is allowed to proceed, not only will the bears be hurt, but the ecological balance of marine and other animal life would be permanently damaged. It would irreversibly disrupt the grizzlies' habitat, eliminating up to half of the core area most important to these bears. Canada would also lose the last and the finest forest of sitka spruces left in the world.
