By Megan Adams

The sound of laughter comes in through forest, mixed with the smell of barbequing fish. It is a warm June evening. I look up from my gaze to the fire to all the kids running around, and cannot imagine feeling luckier to work (and play) in such a beautiful place.

For five years now, the Wuikinuxv Bear Project has monitored grizzly and black bears populations in alpine and coastal habitats in Rivers Inlet, BC, and beyond across Wuikinuxv Territory, as Raincoast Conservation biologists and University of Victoria Applied Conservation Science lab students, we work with the Wuikinuxv Nation Coastal Guardian Watchmen to form “the bear crew”. We sample sites along the huge and remote Owikeno Lake, which drains into the inlet near Wuikinuxv Village.

Due to the size of the lake and wind waves that build on it, we often camp up the lake while we sample. We have had many quiet nights around the fire up there over the years, watching the swallows eventually be replaced by bats while reflecting on dramatic sunsets. This time around, however, we are joined by youth, elders, and community from the village who have joined us for a community camp-out. It is anything but quiet!

We monitor 8000km² in Wuikinuxv territory. There are bears across the whole of it, just as there are signs of Wuikinuxv habitation since time immemorial. We have learned so much about the dense black bear population and the highly mobile grizzlies that can roam up in the mountains or out on islands at the mouth of the inlet (Bryan et al. 2013, 2014, Service et al. 2014, Adams et al. 2017).

Wildlife camera footage of a grizzly bear in Wuikinuxv territory. Credit: Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

We have also had the immense privilege of learning about where we work in a deeper context, one where we know bears and humans have been neighbours for thousands of years (Housty et al. 2014). Places where established bear trails go underneath culturally modified trees or parallel beach middens, where traditional stories are embedded in exceptional bear habitat.

We have learned that being on the land for conservation science occurs concurrently, and with powerful synergies, to being on the land as guests, friends, and collaborators of the youth, elders, and community members from the places in which we work (Adams et al. 2014). That is why we want to provide to Wuikinuxv community members the same access the bear crew has to beautiful places on the land. This is why we are out camping, all together. 

After five incredible years of being humbled to the long story of bear-human coexistence in Wuikinuxv, I couldn’t have imagined a better way to end the spring sampling than by sharing food and songs and stories up the lake with youth, elders, and community members, knowing that grizzlies we’ve detected this spring and in years past might be close enough to hear our laughter.

This blog originally appeared on the ACS Lab Blog.

Author biography:  Megan Adams is a PhD candidate in the Applied Conservation Science Lab at the University of Victoria. Her work is focused on bear-salmon-human systems in temperature coastal rainforests, and promoting engagement between academia, communities, and resource managers. Connect with Megan on Twitter @mtncypress, and find more out about her work at www.megansadams.com.

Image Captions/Credits:

Image 1: Traditional barbequed sockeye salmon around the fire.

Image 3: Going on a plant walk with the kids. Credit: @AdrienMullin