Conservation Northwest

Keeping the Northwest wild Fall 2014 9 Feature: Coast to Cascades Joe scott International conservation director, jscott@conservationnw.org Canada Connections INTroDuCING CoaST To CaSCaDeS Decades after recognizing that Washington's grizzly bears are at risk of extinction, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have announced that they will proceed with an Environmental Impact Statement to explore options for restoring threatened grizzly bears in the North Cascades. Conservation Northwest has been working towards Cascades grizzly recovery for over 25 years, and we're thrilled to hear this planning process will soon be starting. e announcement is a landmark for restoring grizzly bear populations to what would still be only a tiny fraction of their former US range—assuming the process leads to meaningful recovery actions—but doing so may take many decades. In the meantime, grizzly bears in southwest British Co- lumbia continue to decline—victims of everything from poaching to habitat loss. Last year, Conservation Northwest and our colleagues in B.C. decided grizzly bear conservation and recovery would require a regional, bi-national approach. Out of these discussions the Coast to Cascades Grizzly Bear Initiative was born. e initiative's field coordinator, Johnny Mikes, is a Whis- tler, B.C.-based conservation advocate with thirty years of ex- perience as a guide in some of B.C.'s most remote wild lands. Blackwater-West Blackwater-West Chilcotin Chilcotin South Chilcotin Ranges South Chilcotin Ranges Stein- Nahatlatch Stein- Nahatlatch Squamish- Lillooet Squamish- Lillooet North Cascades North Cascades Garibaldi-Pitt Garibaldi-Pitt Wells Gray Wells Gray Columbia- Shuswap Columbia- Shuswap Homathko Homathko F[cX[hjed Bojjed C[hh_jj 9b_djed M^_ijb[h B_bbee[j 7i^Yhe\j I[Y^[bj Ikcc[hbWdZ IgkWc_i^ F[WY^bWdZ A[h[c[ei Fh_dY[jed >ef[ AWcbeefi LWdYekl[h 99 97 1 1 5 3 99 7b[n_i9h[[a M_bb_WciBWa[ 7XXeji\ehZ C_ii_ed 9^_bb_mWYa =ebZXh_Z][ "e mountains of the Coast to Cascades region were my wilderness backyard when I was growing up. Grizzlies have al- ways been a part of that landscape," Mikes said. "But in my lifetime I've seen huge changes in the backcountry and I know these bears, now hanging on in the remaining wilder valleys, need our help if they are to survive and thrive." Mikes worked as a representative for the Sea to Sky Land and Resource Management Plan, a consensus document laying out the long-term planning vision for Whistler and other communi- ties. e plan mandates grizzly bear conservation and includes specific recovery actions for the sprawling plan area. e 11 communities that make up the St'át'imc First Na- tion, whose traditional territories overlap the Sea to Sky plan- ning district and are centered in the salmon-rich Fraser River watershed, passed a resolution in 2011 affirming their endur- ing cultural connections to grizzly bears and calling for spe- cific recovery actions. e St'át'imc are primary partners in the Coast to Cascades initiative and a powerful regional voice for sound wildlife stewardship. St'át'imc Environmental Planning Lead Sue Senger has been a tireless regional leader for grizzly bear security and recovery and for raising awareness of First Nations' cultural ties to grizzlies. Claire Ruddy, executive director of Associated Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE) has recently joined the Coast to Cascades team as community outreach coordinator. Ruddy brings a wealth of local planning and net- working experience to the campaign. "Coming from the UK, I always saw grizzly bears as syn- onymous with the open wilds of Canada. A creature to be re- spected and revered. I had little idea of the challenges these bears now face just to survive," Ruddy said. "I'm privileged to be working to help these majestic, iconic animals because surely the loss of grizzlies locally is too great to bear." Jacquie Rasmussen, a Lillooet resident and former BC gov- ernment range specialist is also working with ranchers on behalf of the Coast to Cascades initiative to understand the nature of livestock-grizzly bear conflicts and collaborate on pilot projects that will help to stop killings—of both cattle and bears. Coast to Cascades is a formidable and dedicated team with decades of experience working with local communities, in- dustries and governments to address the causes of wildlife loss and habitat decay. e campaign is the perfect complement to our efforts in Washington state to restore grizzly bears to their North Cascades home. Above: A British Columbia grizzly bear feeding. Photo: John T Schopp Left: The longterm survival of grizzly bears in the North Cascades depends on having healthy bear populations in southwestern B.C.

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