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1. Bear viewing has high value in British Columbia

British Columbia has a rich and diverse landscape that offers a diversity of bear and other wildlife viewing opportunities that are world-class. The Valhalla Wilderness Society supports responsible wildlife viewing, commercial and public, that minimizes disturbances but we also believe that some special "benchmark" areas should be set aside for bears and other wildlife where no bear viewing, hunting or other human activities are allowed. We oppose irresponsible or higher impact bear viewing such as illegal use of helicopters that we see in several areas on the coast. Some high-end tour operators on the coast "slip in" illegal aerial bear viewing such as of bears, including rare spirit bears, in conjunction with their heli-fishing on salmon rivers; another activity which we feel has a high impact on bears. We also oppose, for ethical and biological reasons, trophy hunting of bears and feel that commercial bear viewing and carefully done ecotourism will increasingly provide important economic alternative opportunities for rural communities. Trophy hunting is a one-shot deal for some bears and has been clearly demonstrated to impact survival of some sub-populations; whereas the same hunted bears can be viewed many times over, greatly enhancing their value for public appreciation and small-scale ecotourism. We know of some instances where particular grizzly and black bear individuals that were of high value to bear viewing tours were shot by trophy hunters.


2. VWS biologists helped develop bear viewing programs as an aid to public education and conservation for bears

Biologists with VWS were the first in the province to design and experiment with responsible bear viewing, starting in the Khutzeymateen Valley in 1986. In our research and campaign to save the area we realized the necessity of having supporters and film-makers actually go into the ecosystem to experience and view bears safely. We first reviewed the design and management approaches of three different grizzly bear viewing programs in southeast Alaska. After this, we then experimented in the Khutzeymateen with river-raft bear viewing floats, viewing platforms, and water-based bear viewing where people stayed on a larger live-in boat and went by inflatable rafts to safe vantage points to look for bears. We were joined in this experimental program by Tom Ellison, a forester who had a boat called the Ocean Light, and from this we gradually developed what we felt were safe and responsible bear viewing programs that featured bear ecology and conservation. Dan Wakeman of Sunchaser Charters also helped on this experimental program. At the same time we also used interpretive ecosites where people could be safely taken to experience such things as bear mark trails, bear mark (rubbing) trees, bear "tubs," salmon-spawning areas, giant spruce trees, grizzly digging habitats and so on to learn about bear biology and rainforest ecology. Gradually this grew into a key conservation/education program that was pivotal to raising awareness to save the Khutzeymateen as Canada's first grizzly sanctuary in 1993.

When we began our research and campaign for the Spirit Bear Sanctuary starting on Princess Royal Island in 1987, Tom Ellison and his boat were paramount in developing similar bear viewing and conservation programs for the white and black-phased spirit bears in the area. We also worked with the B.C. Ministry of Forests in the Inland Temperate Rainforest to design and develop the Whitewater Creek grizzly bear viewing trail and the Retallack black bear den/cedar grove trail – both now popular sites with great educational value.

During the Spirit Bear program, we also worked with the Kitasoo and Gitga'at First Nations to assist with the development of their low-impact bear viewing/ecotour projects.

Today, bear viewing both by the public at large and commercial ecotour operators is a growing sector, gradually replacing trophy hunting on the B.C. coast.


3. Coastal bear viewing guides association (CBVA)

Recently a group of tourism operators on the B.C. coast banded together to form the province-wide coastal bear viewing association (CBVA) to develop responsible bear viewing standards and to represent their interests in the tourism market and in government relations. They are presently developing a training curriculum and manual to certify bear viewing guides.

Contact: CBVA

Box 423,

Cumberland, B.C. V0R 1S0

email: info@bearviewing.ca

web: www.bearviewing.ca


4. Some responsible B.C. bear watching adventure operations:

1. Interior British Columbia: For information and to order a trail guide to the Whitewater grizzly trail and the Retallack Cedar Grove interpretive trail contact the Valhalla Wilderness Society. For outdoor bear trips and bear safety courses contact Erica Mallam at (250) 358-2333. 

2. Coastal British Columbia:

Maple Leaf Adventures. www.mapleleafadventures.com Ph. 1-888-599-5323. Maple Leaf Adventures is a pioneer of ecotourism in the Great Bear Rainforest area, and their tours here aboard a classic schooner are listed by Frommer's Canada as one of the nation's 6 "Best Travel Experiences". These small group tours are accompanied by expert naturalists and guides and include superb wildlife viewing opportunities. Maple Leaf is a co-founder of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association and the Gwaii Haanas Tour Operators Association, and a co-author of the latter's Code of Conduct. Maple Leaf staff have volunteered hundreds of hours for conservation efforts and government negotiations that benefit the area.

Ocean Adventures Charter Co. Ltd. www.oceanadventures.bc.ca Ph. 604-812-9453 or 604-988-5990. "Join us on our 54 foot ship, Great Bear II, in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, for 'Magnificent Inlets of the Grizzly' and 'Islands of the Spirit Bear.' "

Sunchaser Charters. www.citytel.net/sunchaser. Ph. 250-624-5472. Spring and fall bear viewing in the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary. Conservation oriented and continues to help raise awareness to protect bears.

Knight Inlet Lodge: www.grizzlytours.com. Ph. 250-337-1953. Runs 2-8 day spring and fall grizzly bear viewing programs at their floating lodge on B.C.'s central coast. They are a founding member of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association, are very conservation oriented and continue to help raise awareness to protect bears.

Koeye River Lodge. www.koeyelodge.com. Ph. 250-957-2567. Based out of Bella Bella. Heiltsuk First Nations.

Klemtu Tourism. www.klemtutourism.com. Ph. 877-644-2346, 250-839-2346. Community-owned by Kitasoo First Nations who helped create the new Spirit Bear Conservancy and other new coastal protected sites.  Grizzly and spirit bear viewing (not guaranteed) with excellent First Nations cultural/heritage interpretation with their trained guides. Tours based in the community.

Gitga'at Tourism. www.gitgaat.net. Ph. 250-841-2602.  Community-owned by Gitga'at First Nations at Hartley Bay who helped create the new Spirit Bear Conservancy and other new protected sites. Spirit bear and cultural tours. Good spirit bear watching at their viewing platforms with trained guides. 

[See also Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia (www.atbc.bc.ca)]


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