Protecting The Right Places
In the United States we are fortunate to have millions of acres of public lands under relatively good conservation protections. In the northern Rockies these areas provide strongholds for grizzlies and other wildlife. But separating these core habitats are strips of privately owned lands containing homes, ranches, businesses and transportation corridors. The increased development and traffic in these areas, which are often along rivers and valleys, disrupt wildlife movement across the landscape.
Vital Ground is taking action to reverse loss of habitat and declining grizzly numbers through The Right Place Campaign. Please help us protect wild places!
Where are we focusing our attention?
Although some grizzly populations have made significant gains in recent years, others in several ecosystems are teetering on the brink of extinction.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, about 1,000 bears are estimated to live in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in the U.S., which includes Glacier National Park, and more than 700 in the Yellowstone Ecosystem.
But the number of grizzlies on the U.S. side of the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems are at dangerous lows and number less than 50 bears each. Without protection of the Right Places, these bear populations are threatened to decline further due to isolation, fractured habitat and human activities.