Conservation Northwest

and ideas for keeping grizzlies on the landscape. e cultural connections to grizzly bears are alive and strong in these com- munities. e Sea to Sky communities including the recreation mec- cas of Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Lillooet have all passed resolutions in support of grizzly bear recovery and C2C goals. Area First Nations have reaffirmed the importance of the grizzly to the formation and persistence of their cultural iden - tities, which stretch back thousands of years in southwest B.C. e St'at'imc First Nation has its own grizzly bear recovery program. e Chiefs' Councils of the St'at'imc, Squamish, Stó:lō and Okanagan Nations have all passed resolutions in support of grizzly bear recovery and in alignment with the goals of the C2C initiative. Among other efforts, C2C staff are working with ranchers on protocols to prevent conflict with grizzly bears over live - stock. We anticipate the payoff will be a more permeable land- scape where bears can recolonize areas to the south and east, a primary focus of the C2C initiative. e grizzly bears of southwest B.C. are threatened by the combined effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. e main source of lethal contact is roads —generally because they carry people in cars with guns, but also because female bears with cubs oen avoid road corridors. e primary focus of C2C has been to reverse or mitigate those effects through good science, outreach and creative strategies to protect habitat. We focus on the habitat "fractures" or human-dominated landscapes where bears and people could interact with the po - tential for dead, hungry, lonely or in-bred bears. e idea is to turn those fractures into safe passages using a variety of strat- egies, such as closing or managing unnecessary roads so that they don't threaten the security of grizzlies and other wildlife. For example, C2C staff initiated a process to manage mo- In 2016 and early 2017, the Coast to Cascades Initiative: • Hosted a symposium of First Nations leaders, scien- tists, conservationists and government officials to discuss strategies for grizzly bear conservation in Southwest B.C. • Received letters of support from the three First Na- tions—Squamish Nation, Okanagan Nation Alliance and St'át'imc Chiefs Council—whose territory C2C's work covers. • Hired a N'Quatqua Nation member to coordinate conflict prevention and grizzly ecology outreach to several St'át'imc First Nation communities, includ- ing two grizzly bear-focused workshops. • Maintained standing contributions to our grizzly anti-poaching reward fund. • Worked with cattle ranchers to better understand grizzly bear movement and lay the foundation for implementing conflict-preventive range strategies and practices. • Continued to advocate for local resolutions support- ive of grizzly bear recovery. torized access in the upper Lillooet River valley, which drains a huge area in the middle of the C2C geography. Extensive research has shown that the upper Lillooet is critical for re- storing connectivity and security for threatened grizzly bears. Participants include the B.C. government, local First Nations communities and forestry and energ y industry sectors. Further north in the Chilcotin, where a growing grizzly population will eventually disperse outward, C2C staff are working with ranchers on protocols to prevent conflict with grizzly bears over livestock. We anticipate the payoff will be a more permeable landscape where bears can recolonize areas to the south and east, a primary focus of the C2C initiative. And none of this is written on a blank slate. Dedicated gov - ernment and independent grizzly biologists have done a stellar job of identifying and protecting thousands of hectares of core grizzly habitat throughout the area. It's our job to fill in the blanks. Continued, Grizzly Bears Transcend Borders The idea is to turn those landscapes where bears and people could interact into safe passages by, for exmple, closing or managing unnecessary roads so that they don't threaten the security of grizzlies and other wildlife. Photo: Steve Ogle 14 Fall 2017 conservationnw.org Coast to Cascades Updates

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