The Grizzly Guide Book with Sage Raymond
Brought to you by the Grizzly Bear Foundation and the Commercial Bear Viewing Association of BC, The Grizzly Guide Book shares first-hand accounts from bear viewing guides in the field and equips you with the latest stories, research, and conservation initiatives to expand your knowledge of the grizzly bear and connect you with CBVA guides and operators. Sign up to receive the Grizzly Guide Book e-newsletter here.
Sage Raymond wasn’t looking to be a bear viewing guide. She didn’t even know the job existed. Now she’s a CBVA Level 3 certified bear viewing guide, tracking specialist, and PhD candidate studying human-wildlife coexistence.
Equipped with the skills of a naturalist and a diploma in Recreation, Fish, and Wildlife, Sage was looking for a job that was consistent with her ethics and would allow her to spend lots of time outdoors. She also had her heart set on living in a small community at the north end of Kootenay Lake in southeastern BC. Having heard of local ecotourism operator Wild Bear Lodge (known as Grizzly Bear Ranch at the time), Sage checked out their website to see what they offered. Bear-viewing for the curious, intrepid, and wild-at-heart…Intrigued, to say the least, Sage sent in her resume. She took a leap at an unconventional opportunity that, turned out, aligned harmoniously with her skills, aspirations, and enthusiasm for nature.
“Starting out as a guide was fairly fluid for me. I'd worked previously as a wildlife technician, and a lot of the principles were similar, with respect to risk analysis, safety, group management, and leadership. The big-picture task was a bit different. Instead of the overarching goal of collecting biological data, the goal was to facilitate meaningful experiences in nature for guests.”
Wild Bear Lodge, surrounded by the Selkirk Mountains, is located within the world’s only inland temperate rainforest. Over 500km from the nearest ocean, this rare ecosystem derives most of its precipitation from snow and is home to grizzly bears, wolverines, and mountain caribou. Ancient cedar-hemlock forests lush with lichens, ferns, and fungi rise up to subalpine wonderlands and jagged snow-capped peaks. Kokanee salmon (the landlocked version of sockeye) spawn in crystal-clear rivers, completing a fully freshwater life cycle that never reaches the ocean.
Sage's favourite time of year at Wild Bear Lodge is in the early autumn when a day bear viewing might be spent rafting down the river watching bears feed on salmon or hiking up in the mountains where grizzlies forage for huckleberries.
“In the subalpine, the weather can be unpredictable and inclement, but the autumn colours are incredible, and watching bears with a subalpine backdrop is pretty special."
Plus, "There are always a few days in the autumn when the air is crisp and cold, the sky is the bluest it is all year, the mushroom foraging is fantastic, and the golden needles of the western larch trees fall like snow."
“Relative to the coast, bears are at much lower densities in the Selkirks, which has several consequences," said Sage. "One is that bears are much more diffuse and harder to find. We spend proportionally more time looking for bears and less time viewing them. This is great because we get lots of exercise, and knowing you could meet a bear anywhere at anytime adds to the wildness and unpredictability of the whole experience."
Another consequence of this unique bear viewing experience with Sage is a heightened appreciation for the tracks and traces that bears and other animals leave behind.
"Other than watching animals firsthand, tracking is the best way I know to pull meaningful, evidence-based stories about who animals are and what they do out on the landscape."
Last year, Sage became the first Canadian to earn the track and sign specialist certificate in the Cyber Tracker Conservation system.
Sage’s extensive time spent in nature and working as a bear viewing guide translated naturally into scientific research. While working with Wild Bear Lodge, Sage published a paper relating grizzly bear observations to Kokanee abundance. “In my opinion, the coolest thing about this paper was the use of bear viewing data. Bear viewing guides are elite outdoor professionals, with tons of experience making detailed observations of animal behaviour. It makes a ton of sense that their observations should be leveraged by the scientific community to do science!”
Sage is currently working on her PhD at the University of Alberta, studying human-wildlife coexistence. Broadly, Sage’s research looks at various aspects of animal behaviour, particularly terrestrial carnivores, primarily by leveraging observation-based and non-invasive methods.
“In one way or another, a lot of my work looks at the influence of people on the landscape, and seeks to reduce human-wildlife conflict and increase coexistence. Some of the core skills from bear viewing—being observant, being willing to learn from animals, considering the perspectives and experiences of people—are directly applicable to asking and answering scientific questions consistent with my research interests.”
What does coexistence mean to Sage? "For me, coexistence means that people recognize the value of having wildlife on the landscape and make compromises to accommodate the intrinsic ecology and behaviour of the wildlife species in question. I think it’s important to see coexistence as a human responsibility. The ‘existence’ part of coexistence is the wildlife’s contribution. The rest is on us!"
“Most people think coexistence sounds great until they realize that it isn’t free. You can’t have both unfenced apple trees and grizzly bears. You can’t have both coyotes and a cat that goes outdoors on their own at night. You can’t have both free-range chickens and free-range black bears. We don’t get something (in this case wildlife) for nothing—we have to make some compromises. With bears, those compromises are pretty simple—secure attractants and carry bear spray when appropriate. At the end of the day, grizzly bears like apples, and coyotes like cats—that’s just bears and coyotes being bears and coyotes. We can’t, and shouldn’t, change these things about bears and coyotes. We should instead change our behaviour.
“Naturally, Wild Bear Lodge does a great job managing attractants and coexisting with bears on lodge grounds, but they also support the community by contributing to a cost share program for electric fencing for local farmers and for bear spray.”
Learn more about how bear viewing ecotourism gives back here.
See more of Sage’s research here and follow her on social media @raisedbyfieldguides
This story is part of Bear Viewing Tourism Gives Back #GoBearViewing, a collaborative campaign from the Grizzly Bear Foundation and the Commercial Bear Viewing Association of BC. Together we are showcasing the role of bear viewing ecotourism in grizzly bear conservation and the conservation economy.
Visit www.bearviewing.ca to learn how to become a CBVA certified guide CBVA member or to find a CBVA tour.
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