The Khutzeymateen: A spring refuge for bears:
In northwest British Columbia, close to the border with Alaska, is a truly remarkable sanctuary for a population of about 50 grizzly bears. This is a deep estuary carved into the mountains of the remote parts of BC with steep sides with a large glacier overshadowing the inlet and at its head, a wide-open flat saltmarsh that reaches back into a salmon river system. This is the traditional territories of the Lax Kw’alaams Tribes and the Metlakatla Nation. The coastal Tsimshian people still depend upon this area for their social, economic and cultural prosperity.
There is no road access, so the only way to get there is by boat or float plane, 40km north of Prince George and almost to the Alaskan border. The sanctuary covers some 44,300 ha and is dominated by old growth sitka and spruce rain forests. The inlet has a population of the beautiful harlequin ducks, bald eagles and a good diversity of songbirds. There are mountain goats on the steep sides, mink along the shoreline and apparently wolverines and wolves can be seen here.
The area was originally designated for logging although a group of research ecologists had identified it as a grizzly bear hot spot. In 1982, Wayne McCrory, a biologist and conservationist visited the area and persuaded the government to introduce a protection order that prevented bear hunting and would limit any logging. In 1994, the area was established as a provincial park and not only became the first to be specifically protected for Grizzly bears but also the first undisturbed estuary in this part of Canada. In 2008 further protection was given along the inlet to protect the foreshore habitats for the bears.
Visitor boats are allowed to visit the main Khutzeymateen inlet but access to the park and the flats with the grazing bears is strictly restricted to just two inflatable boats at any one time. One of the boat permits is held by the Ocean Light Adventures (oceanlight.ca) and my son and I stayed on their excellent boat that was moored outside the park and we took regular trips into the park over a period of 6 days. I cannot praise enough the professionalism and superb guiding of the Ocean Light team. Chris has a remarkable bear sense, was sensitive about not disturbing the bears but at the same time understood the light and angle needed to capture what I hope you agree are acceptable photos of bears and their natural behaviour. We saw multiple matings, watched bears for hours every day and were just enthralled at the pleasure of being in such a wonderful habitat with a charming and delightful crew and guests; a very special experience.