Grizzly map thumbnail CS06The other weekend, I went to Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain for the first time (“The Peak of Vancouver” TM). It was lovely but touristy, including 5 or 6 restaurants, a pricey gondola ride, a logrolling demo, and two captive grizzly bears. The bear exhibit wasn’t as sad as it sounds; the bears had been orphaned at a young age, and at Grouse they have 5 acres of habitat to prowl around in and hundreds of tourists to entertain every day. And it was pretty amazing to get so close to one of the Northwest’s most magnificent animals.

Upon return, I checked out the grizzly range map we developed for Cascadia Scorecard 2006 as part of our wildlife indicator, which highlights the astonishing breadth of where grizzlies once roamed and the present-day diminishment of their range. See for yourself: (Static map here; animated map here.)