The Spirit Bear

MOAKSHGM OL

Moaksh-gm ol: White Bear of the Rainforest
The central coast of British Columbia is home to a very rare bear. The scientific name is Ursus Americanus Kermodei, or Kermode Bear, after past director of the Royal British Columbia Museum, Frank Kermode. The museum had in its possession during his directorship a white black bear; it was considered "a curiosity." A Kermode bear is a typical American black bear, except it has a white coat. This is not a population of white bears, but a population of black bears in which a high frequency of white members exist. The pure white bears are not albinos, they are the product of a double recessive gene combination selecting for white hair instead of black. Infrequent glimpses have resulted in the terms "ghost bear" and "spirit bear." Thought to be the effect of a genetic shift in an isolated population of black bears during the last ice age, this unique double-recessive gene combination has survived over thousands of years.

The Legend:

Kitasoo legend says that Raven, the Creator, went among the bears and turned every tenth bear white to serve as a reminder of a time when the Earth's great glaciers covered the landscape. It is highly regarded in Tsimshian culture. These glaciers have been gone for ten thousand years. Today, logging threatens this population of bears. Right now, an excellent opportunity exists to protect one of the world's most pristine temperate rainforest and marine ecosystems by protecting the core habitat of the Kermode bear. The Spirit Bear Park will be created, but the B.C. government is considering an area only about fifteen percent of what biologists consider necessary to protect this beautiful white bear phase. It seems ironic that the white bears are protected from hunting, but the habitat that supports their survival is in no way protected from logging. Public support is the only voice in favor of the bears and their pristine habitat. If it is not protected now, it never will be.

Physical Characteristics:
The kermode bear (Ursa Americanus Kermodie) is a beautiful white bear that lives in the rain forests of British Columbia. Unlike what some think, the Kermode bear is not a polar bear, nor is it an albino. The kermode is a sub species of the black bear. There is a recessive gene which both parents have to have to make the black bear white. There can be a family with white and black bears at the same time! Like the black bear, the kermode weighs about 1/2 of a pound when born and about 300 when full grown. The mothers are quite protective of their cubs, as she teaches them the necessities of survival. Like most other bears, cubs can also learn from watching others. In fact, some of the cubs' technique in hunting just comes from observing others. Born in the spring, kermode bear cubs stay with their mothers till late summer when the salmon season starts. A kermode bear is a very lovable and gentle animal. It would only attack a human if its cubs were in danger, or if it was literally starving to death.

Habitat:

The kermode bear lives in the rain forests of British Columbia, Canada. The range of this magnificent bear is from Princess Royal Island to East Hazleton,Terrace,Prince Rupert Island. The area of the kermode is about 7.2 million hectares. The place were the most kermode bears are found is Princess Royal Island. In fact,the population of these bears is so intense, that one tenth of the black bears there, turn out to be white. Along with the kermode are bald eagles, salmon, foxes, and other various animals. The climate is beautiful although in great danger. Logging companies have their eyes on these rain forests with trees that are hundreds of years old. Many organizations are trying to save this wondrous rain forest but they are fast disappearing.

Habitat Lost To Logging:

Living in a pristine temperate rainforest, completely isolated from the forces of progress, the white bears have for thousands of years lived in peace. Places like Princess Royal Island are where white bears occur most frequently within the greater black bear population. One in every ten of the black bears on this island is white. The habitat of Princess Royal and the adjacent mainland is phenomenal, moving from the ocean, up the rivers, to 5000+ foot mountaintops, supporting over 60 classified salmon streams, an annual run of steelhead trout, wolves, grizzly bears, bald and golden eagles, orca whales, dall porpoise, and rare elephant seals and marbled murrelets. An abundance of life prospers here, unspoiled. But the modern world is now tearing at the heart of the pristine wilderness in which this multitude of wildlife lives. Clearcut logging, mostly for export overseas, is threatening this spectacular region. Princess Royal Island, the core habitat of this amazing bear, has already been divided into tracts, and the northern third of the island has already been logged.

The Solution - A Wilderness Park:
The British Columbia Provincial Government is now considering the creation of a park to protect the core habitat of the Kermode bear. But the study area they are considering is only about ten percent of what has been recommended by bear biologists. It is critical that a park which will support the viability of this unique population of black bears be established. The Spirit Bear Park Proposal protects one of the world's few remaining pristine areas. The proposal consists of Princess Royal, Swindle and Campania Islands, and the Green Inlet, Carter Lake and Khutze River watersheds, totaling approximately 265,000 hectares (660,000 acres), of which 85,000 ha (210,000 acres) are on the mainland (Kitimat Ranges) and 180,000 ha (450,000 acres) are islands of the Hecate Lowlands.

An Amazing Protected Wilderness:

The Spirit Bear Park would add a "crown jewel" to an already existing contiguous wilderness system composed of several of British Columbia's most impressive parks, including Tweedsmuir, Kitlope, Chilcotin and Fiordland. Over a million hectares of B.C.'s diverse, bountiful, pristine wilderness stretching from the drier interior mountains to the barrier islands off the central B.C. coast. The Spirit Bear Park would overlay two of B.C.'s distinctive biological zones (Kitimat Ranges and Hecate Lowlands), establishing needed protected areas where an enormous variety of life exists.

Salmon Resource:

One of the greatest benefits is salmon. This park proposal contains a greater salmon resource than all other existing and proposed parks on the central B.C. coast combined. Five different species of salmon spawn in the rivers contained within the proposal, as well as a large run of steelhead trout. The health of the salmon is dependant on the health of the rivers, which are dependant on the health of the forests. Annual salmon runs average about 170,000 fish, an economic resource valuing in the millions of dollars. For the white bears, eagles, orcas, porpoise, seals, wolves, and countless other animals which depend on the salmon as a major food source at critical seasons of the year, the salmon are priceless.

Old Growth Forest Stands:

Many major stands of impressive old-growth forests would be protected. Vast areas of Mountain Hemlock, Yellow Cedar, and Amibilis Fir forests can be found in the drier eastern regions of the park. Coastal Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar can be found in the lower elevations of the western sections. Throughout the park can be found stands of Sitka Spruce, some approaching "cathedral" stature. These larger stands of forests typically are found along the many salmon streams. The trees serve to shade the streams and keep the water temperatures cool enough for the salmon to spawn and their extensive root systems keep the delicate soil system intact.

Land of the Kitasoo:

The Spirit Bear Park Proposal protects far more than an amazing wilderness. The proposal also protects the ancestral homeland and traditional hunting grounds of the Kitasoo. These native people have lived here for thousands of years. The Kitasoo will be partners with the B.C. government in overseeing this magnificent wilderness. British Columbia works cooperatively with native peoples in the management of B.C.'s wilderness areas. This cooperative policy has proven to be very effective: beneficial to the entire province, native people, and the environment. The creation of the Spirit Bear Park as proposed will be a win-win-win situation for B.C., the Kitasoo, and the area's tremendous wildlife, and will reflect British Columbia's continued commitment to its Protected Areas Strategy.

Who gets to decide?:
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Glen Clark won British Columbia's May 28th election for provincial premier. That means that the NDP controls the fate of the Spirit Bear Proposal. Tremendous public attention is essential in helping Premier Clark make the right decision by creating this very comprehensive park. Information from within the B.C. government is given the premier by the Prince Rupert Regional Protected Area Team (RPAT), which is in charge of identifying areas for new parks in this part of B.C. They have destroyed the biological value of the proposed Spirit Bear Park by slashing it by over two-thirds. RPAT is considering two smaller areas within the greater proposal. They would protect Campania Island for the traditional uses of the Hartley Bay people, and only a token area of southern Princess Royal Island which would in no way protect the genetic viability of the remarkable Kermode bears. This token designation would allow the government to proclaim the designation of a new park protecting the rare Kermodes and indigenous culture; but in reality, it would leave ancient temperate rainforests to the extractive industries and result in the destruction of most of the healthy salmon streams that would be protected by the greater 265,000 hectare proposal. It would also destroy the enormous potential the Kitasoo have of developing a sustainable tourism economy, which could easily provide many more jobs than timber extraction for this community of about four hundred people. Over half of the timber removed from British Columbia goes to the United States. The next greatest share goes to Japan. The Global Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have put the world's resources at the disposition of all people, though it is controlled by a few special interests. Please help the British Columbia Government understand the importance of this unique animal population and its amazing wilderness.

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