Grizzly bear trailhead signage program in the works

Help is on the way to protect the region’s grizzly bears, as well as the public.

Johnny Mikes Field Director for the Coast to Cascades Grizzly Bear Initiative says they will be working on a trailhead signage program this summer to let people know when they are in grizzly bear country. The organization has been working with a number of partners including the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD), and hopes to install signs on various trails in areas ranging from Whistler to north of Pemberton.

“We find that a lot of people are not aware that there are grizzly bears out there, and then other people think there’s a lot more than there are. We want to make sure first of all people know they’re going into grizzly bear country…” says Mikes.

Information on the bears will be posted at trail heads, and will include how to tell the difference between bears and how to act differently around them. Costs will be shared between the various partners on the project, including the Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations, Community Foundation of Whistler and SLRD.

Mikes says grizzly bear recovery is popular; “First Nations are on side, local governments have passed resolutions being on side, populace is on side. We just need to get around to make sure we have these bears in a position where they’re going to stick on the landscape”. Approximately 59 grizzlies call the Sea to Sky region home.